Moonlight Melody: Forever By Your Side
by M.J. Cullen
Summary: Alice tells the story about how she came to fall in love with Jasper. A story about a girl with a weak heart but a strong spirit who found the good person in a dark soul. FINISHED!
1. Biloxi Regional Hospital

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* * *

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 1: Biloxi Regional Hospital

It was another rainy night in Forks. Rain cascaded down the translucent walls of the Cullen household casting a soft glow upon it occupants. One of which was a thoroughly frustrated, and at the same time, love-struck Bella Swan. The man, or vampire, she was both frustrated and love-struck with rolled his beautiful golden eyes and turned up the volume to the television set. On the screen a man in a puffy pink chef's outfit was busy opening a bag of flour.

"Edward, do we really have to watch some man making pancakes? His outfit is cheesy!" Bella frowned at the television set.

Edward roared with laughter at the pun.

They had watched the FoodNetwork yesterday and she had decided that _now_ would be the perfect time to put her foot down. Normally she didn't mind watching Edward Cullen struggle to comprehend the unknown realms of culinary world (something extremely rare for a knock-dead vampire who was good at pretty much anything and not used to struggling to comprehend something). It gave her a chance to admire the way his bronze colored hair fell into his golden eyes. The way his skin was flawless, the color of a marble any woman would envy. However someone could only take so much of the FoodNetwork.

"There really isn't anything else to watch on television," he pointed out.

"You didn't even _look!_ And the weather channel_ hardly_ counts!" Bella retorted.

Edward sighed and changed the channel a few times before he reported, "You see? Nothing."

Bella scowled and made a jump for the remote, only to land squarely in his lap. Edward chuckled and held the remote out of her grasp. Then he lifted her up and cradled her in his muscular arms as if she were a child.

She squeaked when Edward pulled her into his lap with a little growl.

"You're not going anywhere."

She heartily agreed. No. Probably not.

"Does the man in the puffy white outfit scare you, Bella?" he chuckled. Bella flushed pink, only serving to heighten his amusement.

"No," she whispered. "I don't like chefs and pancakes," she muttered sounding like a petulant child. Edward beamed in pleasure as pink spread over her cheeks.

"You're so beautiful when you blush," he said softly and traced a few fingers across her cheeks. Bella gasped and froze, feeling a line of fire where his fingers had touched.

"I-I…I still don't want to…"

Edward leaned to brush his lips in butterfly kisses across her temple, "Hm?" Her heart rate began to accelerate. She felt a trill of embarrassment. There was no way he could not hear that.

"I HATE THE COOKING CHANNEL!" she burst out before her brain shorted out.

Edward raised an elegant eyebrow, "Does it bother you so much that I want to learn to cook for you, despite how impossible it is for one of us to taste?" One of us, meaning vampires.

Bella gaped, "Don't turn it around on me!"

The sound of muffled laughter sounded throughout the room and Bella twisted around in Edward's arms to see Alice watching them, with her arm stuffed in her mouth. Bella blushed deeper and tried to wiggle out of Edward's lap. He only tightened his grip on her and grinned gaily.

"Hey Alice," he said cheerfully.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" she asked.

Bella tried to right herself out of Edward's lap. But releasing herself from his iron hold was nearly impossible. Edward didn't look up. He continued to breathe in her scent.

"Not at all. Care to join us?" Edward asked, still not looking at her.

Alice finally started laughing, "Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer to cuddle with Jasper, actually."

Edward rolled his eyes, "I meant watching television," he said sarcastically. Alice beamed and didn't reply. He made room for her on the couch nonetheless.

Bella took that particular moment to snatch the remote from his hands with a triumphant cry. Edward didn't react even as she changed the channel. He seemed to be mentally speaking to Alice with a look of amusement plastered on his face. Bella flicked through the channels and turned to the Disney channel where Bambi was prancing across the screen. The two vampires' eyes flickered to the television.

"Yum," Alice said appreciatively and licked her lips. Edward stared at the screen for a moment then said.

"Change the channel! You're making me hungry!" he grumbled.

Bella twisted in his lap to retort and then upon catching the look in Alice's eyes, stopped.

"Alice?"

The pixie-like girl smiled, "You know, sometimes you remind me of when Jasper and I first met."

Bella raised herself up and plopped onto the couch besides Edward. She could feel a story about to be told. For the moment Edward was a bit preoccupied. His eyes were riveted to the television. Bambi shook his tail tauntingly.

Alice was staring up at them moon pensively tracing intricate patterns on the arm of the couch. Her mind was obviously lingering somewhere in the past.

"The night I met Jasper was a night kind of like this. It was raining hard, but it was funny because the moon was still out," Alice smiled softly to herself.

"I'm sure Edward told you Jasper and I found each other in 1948," she went on. "We had actually gotten married in '48. I had already known him about 28 years before that. At the time I had been in the hospital." Bella opened her mouth to ask the question and Alice said, "I had a weak heart. So the hospital was my second home away from home. Even if I didn't like it."

Taking advantage of the story about to be told, Edward had reached over to Bella and plucked the remote from her fingers. She ignored it and he happily set the station back to the FoodNetwork to watch Chef Dillion make gourmet omelets.

"It was 1920 and I wasn't exactly the most compliant patient in the hospital. But you couldn't really blame me…"

* * *

**1920**

I was a growing teenager with a weak heart, a crazed sense of humor, locked away in a hospital like a princess locked away in a tower. I would go home to my parents every now and then, but it was only a matter of time before my heart would act up again and then I'd be whisked off to the hospital. I could only watch helplessly from my hospital window as life went on below me. So of course Mary Alice Brandon, as I was known then, was extremely notorious for her attempts at freedom.

Like now, for example.

I quietly eased myself out of the hospital kitchen, the precious sandwich of good ol' PBJ that I'd snitched from the cook on duty clenched between my teeth. It was careful not to spill one drop on my white hospital uniform.

There was NOTHING in this hospital that wasn't white, anyhow. The walls, the linoleum floors, the ceilings, the blankets, the tables, the desks. It smelled annoyingly clean and everyone was disgustingly cheerful. It was enough to drive a person crazy (though I might have accomplished that already with the number of years I'd been here). It had been a while since I last had a chance to have something other than the healthy junk they served me.

Giddy with delight, I munched on the sandwich relishing the taste of the grape jelly as I danced my way down the hall. "Jelly jelly…peanut butter…and JELLY!" I sang softly to myself. It wasn't anywhere near to lunch so I wasn't really worried about the hospital staff roaming the hall. No one came to the kitchen around this time.

As I neared the end of the hall where the nurse's desk should have been I grew quiet and got down on my hands and knees. The desk was tall enough to give me cover and as soon as I was far away from the kitchen I was home free, technically. Halfway there I heard some of the nurses on duty start a conversation.

"Who?"

"That poor dear in 123, Lucille!" when I heard this my ears perked up. That was _my_ room! "She's always crying in her sleep, they say," a young woman was saying. My jaw dropped in horror. I am?

"Oh! You mean Miss. Brandon. She's a feisty one, that girl. The other night when offered to do her hair for her, she threw a hairbrush at me."

I beamed with pride. Feisty, yes that was me. It was so annoying when the nurses tried to treat me like glass. Heaven help me if I broke while trying to braid my own hair!

"Maybe she's just a little lost. She's not strong enough to be outside the hospital no matter how many times her parents take her home. The girl always comes back."

Lucille chuckled, "You would never _think_ that the way that she sneaks around this hospital during the day! You know, I've caught her _quite_ a few times sneaking food from the kitchen? She always asks for peanut butter."

"Miss. Brandon?" a male voice called out at that moment. "Is that you down there again?" I flinched but definitely didn't wait for my annoyingly steadfast admirer, Christian Petty, to start the usual pursuit. I scrambled to my feet and launched myself down the hall faster than a bottle rocket. I had no doubt Mr. Petty was following me, neither. We did this at least once a month.

"She's sneaking off more junk food! Why even bother locking the door?" I heard them say.

I grinned and began to nimbly weave my way through various hospital staff and patients. Mr. Petty was managing to keep up; I could clearly hear his footsteps thundering behind me.

"Still hangin' in there, Mr. Petty?" I called out to him, teasing.

There was a laugh, "What do YOU think, Miss Brandon?" I grinned and ducked behind an elderly woman's wheelchair, correctly predicting that she would put up a good fight. I knew Christian would not like me aggravating the patients. I loved nothing more than to push that man's buttons!

* * *

"Did you like him?" Bella asked Alice. It did sort of seem that way. 

Alice grimaced, "No! Though I know for certain that Christian _did_ like me. It was more of a game that went on between us. He was the kind of person who loved a good challenge."

* * *

"You better watch out, Miss Brandon. Imma catch you soon enough!" Christian yelled from behind me, confidence rang in every word. 

I smirked that. I knew that was not going to happen. I started to tip things over, wrecking havoc as I made my way along. A tray of pills here, an IV stand there. He would definitely trip over one of them. That would give me a chance to make it to the hall where there would be plenty of doors to hide behind. Behind me, there was a curse as he tripped over something. The IV stand's wire, I realized with glee.

Suddenly I collided with someone and was thrown backwards onto my rear. I didn't have to see the man who had so effortlessly thrown me off balance to know who he was. I groaned. Game over.

"Mary Alice Brandon," the warm male voice of Dr. Carlisle Cullen sounded amused. "This _is_ a surprise to catch you on your usual trip to the kitchen."

No shit. I grit my teeth and took the hand he was offering. Though I knew he wasn't surprise. He usually caught me anyway and I'd learned the hard way that Dr. Carlisle, as I'd come to know him, was much stronger, faster, cleverer (and quite a _sight _too!) than all the men I'd ever known (haha, not many).

I didn't put up a fight when Dr. Carlisle led me to my room.

"I don't know why you bother," I sighed. I broke away from his hold and began to twirl around like a ballerina.

"Eventually I'll make it outta this here hospital!" I said smugly and swayed my hips to a silent beat.

"I certainly hope you would stop trying to do just that. I would be disappointed to not see you every morning."

"I wouldn't," I sang and pranced into my room. Dr. Carlisle watched me, a look of amusement written on his face.

"Just….be safe. Be good and stop trying to prove to everyone that you're strong. We know."

"_They_ don't. They treat me like I'm going to croak at any minute. Ding dong the witch is dead, right?" I muttered glumly.

"That's not true, Mary Alice. They only care for you," he replied. And I knew that he cared for me too, just as much as I cared for him. He was one of the few people in this prison who actually understood me. Dr. Carlisle was like family to me…he was like a father to me.

"I wish they _wouldn't!_ It's making me sick!" I cried angrily and slammed the door shut. He wasn't surprised.

I threw myself onto my bed. I was not fragile. There was no way I was going to let anyone underestimate me! There was no way I could break, I thought and lay my head on my pillow. Tears of frustration trailed down my cheeks and pooled onto the pillow. Here I was, crying again.

I hated having a weak heart.

Slowly I drifted off to sleep, thoughts of freedom dancing in my head. But it wasn't freedom that I dreamed of. Instead of dreamed of…him. Again, like pretty much every night, it was about him.

_It was a dark and cold night in the forest. Not even the sun, which hovered in the sky like a yellow beach ball, shed any light on the darkness that surrounded him. _

_He was very tall and muscular, but not very bulky. His hair was the color of blonde and fell into pools of black. Alice sighed and emotions rushed through her. _

_He was so sad. So confused and lost. So alone. Trapped in darkness forever, endlessly searching for something. For someone._

And then the dream changed.

_She was no longer in the forest watching the young man. Instead she felt as though she were floating on air. Her arms were crossed over her chest like some kind of vampire, her long dark hair fanned out over her head, her eyes closed. She was slowly gently drifting over water in a boat, like a sleeping princess._

_Then she heard someone singing a beautiful melody in a soft whispery masculine voice. The voice was so close, as if the person were whispering a secret in her ear. Alice's lip trembled. The song made her feel a great sorrow and longing so powerful that it overwhelmed her and rushed over her in waves, threatening to drown her. She reached up trembling fingers, longing to reach out to the person. To touch him and wallow in the great sorrow he felt. _

Suddenly there was a gasp and the dream threw me out. I bolted up out of bed, failing to notice too late that there had been someone leaning over me. A loud crack echoed in the room as our heads collided.

"Ow," I groaned and fell back into my pillows. Pain flared across my head. When it had faded somewhat, I looked down to see who I had bumped heads with.

My heart stopped and I felt shock squeeze at my heart. Could this be happening?

A young man with honey blonde hair was bent double over my bed, gripping his head. When he straightened up, I saw that he was very tall. At _least _6 feet! He was wearing the immaculately white hospital uniform that the volunteers usually wore. But his eyes were what caught my attention the most. His eyes…his eyes met mine squarely, the color of darkness.

I recognized him immediately. It was the boy who had I had been dreaming about endlessly for years. The young man I had been dreaming about since I was six. But this time, the honey blonde hair and black eyes were very real. I could have reached out and touched him. It wasn't a dream.

* * *

"Jasper," Bella breathed. 

Alice nodded furiously. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

* * *

I didn't know his name, so it was a long time before I finally mustered up the courage to actually say a sensible word or two, "Hi." 

And probably totally made a total idiot out of myself in the process. Way to start a conversation, I chided myself.

The boy's face formed into a scowl and he turned to walk away. No!

Before I could stop myself, I reached out and seized the back of his shirt, "Don't go, please! Were you the one who was singing?"

The boy growled in his throat and jerked his shirt out of my grasp easily. "I was only moving your bed towards the window for some fresh air," he said in a low and icy voice. "Thought you might appreciate the view out your window. Don't misunderstand."

Instead his cold words warmed my resolve.

"Oh. So that _was_ you singing, then!" I said brightly. He stared at me in surprise, as if contemplating something. At his side his fists were clenched tightly. I took it to mean he was in pain.

"My name is Mary Alice," I introduced myself and held out my hand to shake.

The boy glowered down at my out-stretched hand. Suddenly self-conscious, I took it back.

Okay. No physical contact. Got it. I was pretty sure he would do something drastic if I were to touch him.

"Aren't you going to tell me yours?" I asked him.

"No. Go to back to sleep," he said gruffly and proceeded to stare deeply into my eyes.

I felt an odd sensation spread throughout my body and trembled. What was happening to me? Then I shook it off and frowned.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise.

"What happened?" I glared at him. Somehow he was to blame! I realized.

He didn't answer. Instead, he only whipped around too quickly for me to see and before I knew it, he had slammed my door behind him. Gone.

I took a look at the clock besides my bed. 12:32 A.M.

I blinked and thought. Slowly a radiant smile spread itself across my face. He was very interesting. The boy was rude and didn't seem like a very nice person. He intrigued me.

I loved it.

I longed to know more about him and would spend as long as it took to find him and do whatever I could to learn more about him. So just so that I could meet the Prince of Darkness again.

* * *

Hey everyone thanks for taking the time to read my chapter! 

neway apparently, Alice is from Mississippi so I tried to add a little Southern icons here and there, just to hint that.

You can also see that Alice is a little…er..upbeat I guess. Upbeat, giddy, "feisty" and tends to dance and prance a lot. Kinna got that from the way the author is always comparing her to a graceful dancer. Alice always was the cheerful one. Plus she's good at predicting things. How she knew Jasper didn't want to be touched, that the lady in the wheelchair would swing at her, and that Mr. Petty (I guess everyone called each other formally in those days so that's why he's a Mr. and she's a Miss.) wouldn't catch her because he'd trip over the IV. I tried to get as close to a human Alice as I could by looking at her vampire side. Psychic, cheerful, and graceful. Human Alice likes to dance around, is very upbeat and childlike, and is very sensitive to those around her. She's good at predicting things.

Plus, sorry for the little boy/man confusion here and there. Alice tends to call Jasper a young man cuz he can pull off the teenager thing (and im a teen-romance sap lol) but Mrs. Meyer sez that he was already a man when he was changed. So…yeah. lol

Well, thanks again and keep reading! Review to tell me what you think:D


	2. the Prince of Darkness

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Moonlight Melody **

Chapter 2: The Prince of Darkness

It was 10 minutes to midnight when I slipped out of my room and rounded the corner, my long dark hair billowing out behind me as I ran. I paused at the end of the hall. My target, I knew, was currently roaming the Pediatrics ward and would soon come around the corner right about…now.

The young man with the honey-blonde hair came up the steps hauling an enormous garbage can under his arm as if were as light as a feather. My eyes bulged in surprise. He was strong! Like Dr. Carlisle strong! What were the odds? I thought with a smile.

At that particular moment his head jerked up. For one brief moment, our eyes met, and then he abruptly spun on his heel and went in the opposite direction, as if the mere sight of me pained him.

The NERVE!

* * *

The sides of Bella's face twitched. "It sounds like Jasper was a really…er.." 

"A stubborn ass? Yeah. I thought so too at the time," Alice admitted with a grin plastered on her face.

Obviously the comment had not gone unnoticed.

Upstairs Bella heard a loud_ thunk_ as if someone had dropped something. There was a sharp whine and then Rosalie screeched her dismay.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DROPPED HIM, JASPER! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DROPPED MY DOG! ALICE! COME AND GET YOUR HUSBAND. HE'S BEING UNCHARACTERISTICALLY CLUMSY!"

Bella and Alice started to laugh. Edward sighed derisively and turned up the volume to the TV.

* * *

But it was something I would learn to get used to. 

"HEY! That's RUDE!" I cried indignantly and scampered after him.

He didn't say anything.

"I still want to know your name," I prodded him. No reply.

"Please?"

He made a sharp turn and went into a broom closet.

"I'll follow you every night asking questions!" I threatened and took the mop he had held out for me.

This certainly got his attention, I noted with satisfaction when he stifffened. He had been bending over into the closet with his back to me when he finally answered.

"Jasper," he rasped.

"Jasper…" I breathed letting his name roll off my tongue, liking the sound of it.

It was a name that I would never forget. Jasper plagued me day and night. When I slept, I dreamt about him. When I was awake, I thought about him. At night, I talked to him. I wanted to learn everything about him. I wanted to know why I kept seeing him in my dreams. Why he had come into my life and suddenly became such a great part of it. What it was about him that had so captivated me?

Soon my visits to the kitchen were become less frequent. I found myself going to bed earlier in the evening just so that I could be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for him at night for our talks. Actually _we_ didn't talk. He would only listen as I went on (at least I HOPED he was listening). Jasper would hardly ever even LOOK at me! I seemed to be talking to myself as I trailed along behind him.

"Talk to me!" I would tell him, to no avail.

In fact he didn't seem to like me walking around with him at night at all. From time to time he would turn around to face me and gaze into my eyes as if he could somehow convince me to stop following him (He never could anyway). It would make me dizzy and then he would scowl in frustration and go back to work. After a while I began to think that maybe he didn't like me at all. The atmosphere was thick with his feelings of confusion, sadness, frustration, curiosity, and something else that I couldn't figure out.

So our conversations were pretty fruitless. Especially when I had the habit of bringing up the stupidest of subjects (Practicing in front of your mirror does help, everybody). As far as talking to him went, I wasn't a very skilled conversationalist. I just liked to talk. Making an idiot out of myself in the process seemed to be a given.

"So Jasper, do you like kitties?" Jasper froze in the middle of reaching for a trashcan overflowing with paper.

"What do you mean?" his voice was cautious and sharp.

I beamed with pleasure, having got a reaction out of him for once, "I asked you if you liked cats!" I chirped. "Have you ever had a pet?"

This seemed to satisfy him. He began to relax went back to work. Emboldened, I surged onward.

"I used to have a cat! His name was Dog (don't ask, long story behind the name). But when I was 7 years old my brother ended up killing him. It was really gross and I was so mad. Every time I see cats it makes me want to cry. Do you think cats are edible? I mean I know…" I was babbling endlessly. Then I shut up noticing that the topic had gotten old and tried again.

"What about bacon? Do you like pig?" I asked and I realized he had stopped and turned around.

"Why do you keep asking me about animals?" Jasper turned to look at me, a dangerous look in his eyes.

It seemed as if he were expecting something of me. Feeling suddenly self-conscious, I stood a little straighter.

"Because every time I talk to you I'm reminded of farm animals! And I'm trying to talk to you but you won't talk to me. Can you blame me for not being able to make proper conversation with you?" I retorted hotly. Really!

"SO? Do you like bacon? Or cat?" I looked at him, trying to gauge his reaction.

Jasper turned away, raking slender white fingers through waves of honey-blonde locks. I was sure it was a sign of irritation.

"I'm a vegan, Alice," he said shortly, his voice holding a hint of amusement.

I didn't remember cracking any jokes.

I felt a trill of joy go through me when he called my name. Alice, not Mary Alice!

Then I realized something and I blinked, speechless and completely annoyed he had effortlessly killed the longest conversation we'd ever had. "Oh."

I looked up and saw him striding down the hall and around a corner.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I cried and scuttled off to catch up. However when I rounded the corner I found that he had suddenly disappeared.

The weird thing was he had disappeared down one of the door-less and longest hallways in the hospital. That hallway was empty and only the large trashcan I danced away from, the one he had been hauling around, was any proof that he had gone down the corridor. I scowled in dismay.

With a heavy sigh I threw the garbage bag I'd been holding onto the floor.

"YOU FORGOT YOUR TRASHBAG!" I called out to him and stormed off.

Why did he dislike me so much? Well, I'd just have to wait until the next night to talk to him and find out, I told myself and skipped away whistling my troubles away. However it seemed that fate would have a hand in that too.

"WHAT?" I said, that next morning. "I can go back to school again?" I asked eagerly. Immediately I started dancing around my hospital room. Finally! I had a way to get out of here!

Dr. Carlisle watched me waltz around with an empty IV stand from his seat beside my bed, a smile on his face.

Then I suddenly remembered that I now had a reason to stay here and came back to earth. I threw myself onto my bed and buried my face in the pillow with a groan. The silence was deafening.

He sighed and tapped his clipboard, "If that is what you really want. I think that would a _fantastic_ idea seeing as your heart has certainly gotten stronger than we've ever seen it over the past few weeks. It's a good chance for you to get out of the hospital as you'd hoped," he pointed out and crossed one leg over the other thoughtfully.

I frowned. He was right. I had totally hoped for this. That had all changed since I'd met Jasper. I was very happy to have been in the hospital since it gave me the chance to see him every night. Maybe he was the reason why my heart had suddenly gotten better, I joked to myself.

And yet, I found myself thirsting for a change. Something different other than the usual white and found myself smiling tentatively at the handsome doctor.

"Sure. I think I would like that." I said softly.

I'd probably have plenty of time later to talk to Jasper when my heart started to act up again, I assured myself. I always came back to the hospital. It was only a matter of time.

That night I practiced what I was going to say to Jasper in front of my mirror all night.

"Jasper, I'm leaving. I have to go. I'll probably come back to you la—I mean! I'll miss yo—_ARGH! _I can't tell him that!_"_ I dropped my head into my hands.

I wanted to tell him, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell him that I would probably miss him. Even if it were just for a few days, give or take. Even if he wouldn't miss me.

What I had not expected, as I turned to my vanity that night, was for Christian Petty to slip quietly through my door.

"Mr. Petty? What are you doing here at this hour of night?" I asked him with general curiosity.

Christian shrugged and came over to the little vanity I was sitting in front of, busily plaiting my hair into two long braids.

"Why is it that I don't see you attempting to make off with junk food these days, Miss Brandon? Why is it that you always go to bed so early now on?" he asked. In the mirror I saw that he was suspicious.

"What does it matter to you, Mr. Petty?" I rolled my eyes. "Do you _miss _me?" I grinned wickedly.

But when I saw the thunderstruck look on his face, my grin faded. He DID. He missed chasing me around. Missed seeing me.

I twisted around in my seat quickly. I felt a twinge of guilt that he had obviously taken our monthly chases to heart and told myself very sternly that he had to be set straight before I went off to meet Jasper.

So I looked that man straight in the eye and told him right then, "Mr. Petty, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lead you on, but I feel nothing like that sort of thing for you. I can't just find it in myself to think of you like that. Perhaps as a friend, but only as a friend."

I watched Mr. Petty reel back with a look of utter shock. "How…how could you tell..?"

I smiled sadly, "I'm an extremely perceptive person, Mr. Petty. I thought you knew that. I didn't think you'd take our little games together so seriously."

He nodded dumbly and didn't reply. Then his head came up quickly and I saw a fire burn in his big brown eyes, "Be with me anyway!" he demanded.

"What! No…What? Wait! _Be _with you _anyway? _Even though I have no feelings for you whatsoever? That's just sheer madness!" I shook my head.

Suddenly Mr. Petty hauled me to my feet roughly and shook me by my shoulders, "I DON'T CARE! I DON'T CARE! I genuinely care for you Miss Brandon…Mary Alice. I do! Just BE with me!" he said urgently squeezing my shoulders a little too hard to make his point. I cried out in pain and, I don't know where this came from, but I started to sob.

"Mr. Petty let me go this instant! You're hurting me! Let me GO! I said no!" I blubbered. I was trying my best to sound imperious, but instead I sounded like a fussy child.

How had it come to this? I asked myself.

And yet, it got worse. Desperate, he grabbed my face roughly between his hands and crushed my lips with his own as if that would convince me of his devotion.

I'm ashamed to say that for a moment I enjoyed that kiss. Mr. Christian Petty was a very experienced man. But it took me only a second for me to come to my senses.

Still caught in the kiss I cringed, revolted and humiliated beyond belief that the man I had been so carelessly toying with throughout the years was now pushing himself on me. And that for only a second I had reciprocated, too. The tears were coming faster now and I tore his lips away from my own.

In a panic, I picked up the only weapon I could find. Just as he opened his mouth (to declare his undying love for me, I was sure) I let out a cry of triumph and jammed the thick end of my hairbrush into his mouth to shut him up and twisted out of his grasp. He was still spitting out the mouthful of fluffy brown hair I'd dealt him when I made a beeline for the door of my room and whipped it open.

Before I could get very far I ran face-first into a mountain of muscle and shrieked as my leg gave out beneath me from the impact. But a pair of strong, pale arms shot out and caught me under my arms before I could fall, holding me to him tightly in an effort to steady me.

"I said stop! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" I screamed myself hoarse and pounded my fists on his back.

It seemed that all reason had fled from my mind. It wasn't like anyone could blame me. I was a woman in a frenzy to get away from a crazy, love-struck man and had only happened to run into another mountain of testosterone in mid-escape.

But it eventually occurred to me to look up and I realized that it was Jasper who held me in his arms. It was Jasper who stared down at me with a look of pure astonishment.

"Alice?" he asked in a strangled voice. "Why are you crying, Alice?"

Mentally, I kicked myself for having forgotten about the tear leakage. Though I didn't get a chance to answer, because Mr. Petty chose that moment to immerge from my room, breathing hard.

I shrieked. I jumped about a foot into the air and wound my legs tightly around Jasper's waist. My armswrappedaround his neck, as if holding on for dear life. His hands immediately flew onto my lower back for support.

I could care less if he was shocked shitless. I was petrified. If Christian was going to take me away, he would have to pry my body from Jasper's.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Jasper inquired calmly, yet not very cordially. I picked up a note of steel in his tone. His rich voice reverberated pleasantly in his chest.

I twisted my head around and saw Christian looking at me with a look of irritation.

"No," he said tersely. "Excuse me." And just like that he turned and left. It was disconcerting. For a second I thought I saw Jasper watching the Mr. Petty's retreating back with an oddly dead look in his eyes. But whenI looked back at his face I saw himstaring at meblankly.

None of us cared to comment. Jasper shifted uncomfortably and I was suddenly reminded that still I had my legs wrapped around his and my arms clasping his neck . I smiled up into his face sheepishly and laughed half-heartedly.

"Erm...hello, Jasper," I chirpeda bittentative.He ignored that.

"What happened," he growled menacingly. I could see in his eyes that he was demanding a reply.

I shook my head quickly and refused to answer. Ashamed with myself, I buried my now red face into his chest and tightened my grip on the back of his hospital uniform. Behold, I thought wryly. The pursuer had now become the pursueé.

"You won't answer?" he asked in disbelief.

I shook my head again. Forget it. I couldn't reveal that I had just kissed (and enjoyed kissing) another man. I couldn't reveal how naïve I had been to not have seen the way he looked at me when he chased me. It was too mortifying.

Jasper drew back and dropped me unceremoniously onto the floor hard.

I let out a yelp, "You could have at least _warned_ me!" I shrilled hysterically as I picked myself up.

When I saw that he had already picked up the trashcan he'd dropped when I ran into him and was on his way to the next room.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! I have to talk to you!"

"When do you not?" he muttered darkly.

I sighed, "True. But it's important this time!" I insisted and began to trail behind him. I was starting to get nervous now. How would he react to the news?

"Jasper, I'm going to leave the hospital tomorrow." I declared.

I paused to see how he was reacting. He wasn't. He continued to mop the floor. Emboldened I went on and skipped forward a little nervously on the wet floor.

"Dr. Carlisle says that m-my heart has…gotten stronger in the last few weeks and that I should get out a little and enjoy life," I felt my voice quiver but couldn't stop. "Though I'm pretty sure that won't last too long! I always end up coming back here anyway within a month or a few weeks."

What I wanted more than anything at that moment was for him to react somehow. To drop that stupid broom and tell me not to go. Or to at LEAST say good bye. Anything.

Just talk to me, I wailed inwardly.

Silence filled the air. I bit my lip. So, he had not reacted to my news. He either didn't care or hadn't heard me. He had to have heard me. I knew he had.

So that was it then. It was all I could do.

I smiled sadly. Finished. "Well, good night Jasper," I whispered, my voice cracking. Then I turned and left. Behind me I heard him continue working. The sound of a garbage bag hitting the floor echoed seemed to echo ominously across the hall as I started on the path back to my room, disheartened and disappointed.

* * *

lol that whole thing in the beginning where Jasper sees her and turns around immediately happened once to me when a boy caught me looking at him. then when he passed me again he looked and then turned his head away. he SNOBBED me LOL! kinna mean of him but i burst out laughing.

damn, it took me a while to finish this chapter because I suddenly lost my favorite part due to technical difficulty. Unicode. Half the chapter became Unicode JUST when I finished writing about Alice's point of view. That ever happen to you too? What a pain in that ass, I swear.

Neway…

a cliffhanger is always nice lol. So that's where we stop. I know there was something I wanted to mention about Jasper in this chapter but that would just ruin the story since it's only from Alice's point of view.

Alice is a really special person, I think. It's like she's the opposite of bella. Bella is clumsy, but alice is and always has been graceful. It seems bella's not afraid to storm off if she's pissed off, but alice is always more than happy to tag along behind Jasper chattering endlessly like the cheerful sister-figure she'll be for bella in the future. This A+J thing will be very different from E+Bs. Just keep that in mind when things start to get a little serious. Especially because of the kind of vampire Jasper is...

I keep on forgetting that most of the story takes place in 1948. That means no snoopy, no Superman. I was gonna add a snoopy clock in her room when I realized he was still nonexistent. Like a lots things. Tho I coulda sworn I saw in Kingdom Hearts2 that Mickey Mouse was made around the 1920s, wasn't he? I gotta do some research. Ahhh the wonders of writing a story that took place ages ago, huh?


	3. Unrequited Attentions

Just realized that I didn't put a disclaimer….

NONE OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC(MEANING THE CULLENS) BELONG TO ME (WILTS) BUT ARE THE CHARACTERS OF TWILIGHT WHO KINDLY INTRODUCED THEMSELVES TO STEPHENIE MEYER.

* * *

**Moonlight Melody **

Chapter 3: Unrequited Attentions

_Just as every other night Alice slipped into her dreams. But unlike the same dream she usually had about Jasper, this night was different. The darkness was still there, but this time it seemed lighter. The light of the night seemed to weave itself in the air, casting a soft blue glow on their faces._

_Tonight, instead of searching for something desperately for something in the darkness saw him crouching over a translucent pond nearby. He stared at himself in the reflection of the pond. There was the oddest expression on his face that she couldn't understand, couldn't grasp. She reached out to him and placed her hands on his broad shoulders._

_"I'm here…with you. I promise, I'll never leave you," she whispered urgently in his ear. _

_To her immense shock, his eyes widened. He could feel her? He knew that she was there? _

_A gentle breeze of wind rushed across the pond sending ripples across the surface of the pond and disturbing the shimmering reflection. _

_Sadly, he trailed his fingers across the water, grabbing at nothing. His sigh echoed in her ears when he fell backwards into the long grass. Alice felt herself falling beside him. _

_"Jazz?" _

_Jasper closed his eyes and turned his gaze towards the sky. Curiously Alice lifted herself up on one elbow to watch what he was doing and was startled when she saw the color of his eyes. They were a beautiful dark gold color, no longer black. _

_It was a beautiful color. A surprisingly warm color. _

_What did it mean? _

_She didn't take too long to think about it. _

_She turned her gaze to the stars that glistened brightly above them and smiled contentedly. As she looked on she realized that he was singing again. _

_The melody was the same as it had been the night that she had first met him. This time she could vaguely hear that words intertwined with the song, but they were so soft that it was impossible to understand them. Alice looked around to pinpoint the source of the music. Long waves of grass billowed and rustled in the wind for as far as the eye could see. It seemed to come from everywhere. From every corner of the glade, the melody swept her up within its warm folds. _

_She looked down at him just in time to see him reach for a dainty pink butterfly that had flitted into the forest. But before he could act the butterfly landed in his hand. Jasper stared at the butterfly with a look of awe and just a trace of fear; fear that it might fly away. Fear that he might accidentally crush the tiny creature. Alice smiled at the sight of someone she saw as so powerful and rugged holding something so delicate. _

_Suddenly he let out a cry of dismay and she started. The butterfly had burst into little red pieces. Upon closer inspection Alice saw that they were dark red petals. The red petals of a rose? The red petals of a carnation? She didn't know. _

_Her view shifted from that of a companion to a bird's eye view of the glade. From afar, she watched as the red petals swirled around him and scattered on the wind… _

"GET UP!"

I surged up out of bed in a panic.

"GET UP! MARY ALICE BRANDON YOU GET UP RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR YOU'LL MISS YOUR BUS!"

As usual my mother's voice was loud enough to wake the dead. Boy did it ever feel good to be home, I thought wryly and tumbled out of bed with a startled cry.

My mother bustled into the room with a big smile on her face, "Welcome home, love," she greeted me warmly. She was usually a kind-hearted old woman. But that wasn't to say she was a firm woman! Like now.

Her expression hardened into a stern countenance, "Get up and get yourself some breakfast! Then I want you out that door immediately after you get dressed, you hear me young lady?"

I gave my mother a knowing smile, "Yes ma'am." And skipped off to the kitchen happily. A large stack of homemade pancakes tragically (not!) drowned in maple syrup and a large glass of milk waited for me on the table. I devoured the food that I had so greatly missed in the hospital and went back to my room to get dressed. Quickly, I slid into a long pleated blue skirt and a white knit vest and ran outside just in time to see the school bus zoom past my house. I groaned. Great. Just great.

"WAIT!" I cried in anguish and frantically tore off after it.

I growled deep in my throat at the kids laughing at my efforts to hop on the bus and screamed at the top of my lungs, "ARGH! PLEASE STOP THE DANG BUS, MISTER!" This…was...NOT funny!

Abruptly the bus came to a stop and I slammed into the door with a sigh of relief. Safe. The passengers on the bus never let me live it down.

"Gee wiz Mary Alice Brandon! Back again and already missing them buses?" a boy in the back shouted. The other students roared with laughter.

I rolled my eyes and plopped myself besides a quivering brunette boy as the jokes kept coming. Let 'em, I thought slumping down in my seat.

The school itself was your typical red (no more white, thank you God) brick high school. The hallways bustling with both teachers and students alike were a great relief from the silent murmur of the hospital wards. And the moment I set foot inside I was immediately ambushed by a troupe of screaming girls.

I grinned. My friends Lauren Hill, Cerise Davids and her twin sister Mary Ann Davids rushed to welcome me back.

"Mary Alice! You're back!" Cerise cried and gave me a fierce hug, which I returned in like. She was a very cheerful girl with a big round face and short blonde hair.

"You've been gone _so_ long!" Lauren chided me. Lauren was probably one the prettiest of my friends. Her hair always hung in deep brown waves. Freckles were lightly speckled across her nose and she had pretty, wide green eyes.

"Too long," I agreed and winked. "But I'm back now, ain't I?"

"Scott's been pining for _you_, Mary Alice," Mary Ann giggled and motioned to a tall strawberry blonde male lounging against the lockers across the hall.

The boy I had been crushing since the 6th grade (5 years!), Scott Harrison, glanced at me with his green eyes casually and waved a greeting. I waved right back at him. I didn't feel the slightest bit shy of him anymore as I had once been when I had been infatuated with him. Before I'd met Jasper, that is. Scott didn't seem to…dazzle me the way he used to.

Lauren, the most observant of my friends, noticed this right off the bat and bumped her hip into mine. This caught me off guard and I stumbled. Such uncharacteristic clumsiness set them off into a round of laughter and earned them a reproachful glare from me.

"Aw, what'd you do that for, Lauren?" I grumbled.

Lauren gave me a sly wink. I adroitly dodged the next bump she sent my way.

"Mary Alice Brandon did you find yourself a man in the hospital?" she drawled.

Jasper's face flickered in my mind and I felt my face heat up. Peachy, I thought. My friends started shrieking in the usual craze in which girl friends normally react when there is a juicy secret to be shared.

"Oh my LORD you _have!_ Details! You won't set a foot in your classroom 'til we have get all the juicy details!" Cerise whacked me on the shoulder playfully.

It was most comforting that my friends were so physical with me (in that good _friendly_ way, mind you). Such a wonderful change from all the formalities I was forced to endure at the Regional Hospital, I thought as we made our way over to the courtyard.

"So? Who is he?"

"What's his name?"

"What does he do?"

"Is he handsome?"

"Does he care for you as you do for him?"

"What's he like?"

"What do you talk about?"

This was how it went. I stood rooted to the spot as they continue to pepper me mercilessly with questions. How should I start? What could I say about Jasper that would best describe him?

"Weeell," I dragged it out to see the anxious looks on their faces, "His name is Jasper and he is a complete and utter asshole," I beamed, feeling pleased with myself. I had accurately summed him up in twelve words.

I giggled when such a blunt statement brought incredulous looks upon the faces of my friends.

"Er…this _is _the boy that you were talking about?" Cerise shrilled and I nodded emphatically.

"So are we to understand that you_ don't _actually like him? Because it sounds like you actually hate him," Lauren said slowly as if I hadn't caught on to the fact that we were talking about the man who could potentially be my "other half".

I had and I smiled to let them know.

I let out a cry when I felt someone had bumped into me. A girl with black hair laughed with her friends who also came over and bumped me in turn. It was like a game. Sure, bump into Mary Alice Brandon and you get ten points.

A tall gangly young man with long brown hair grinned and pretty much knocked me over. I growled. Twenty points if you knock her over, I thought angrily and turned to my friends.

"What the hell is their problem?" I said through grit teeth.

Mary Anne frowned, disgusted. "You've been to school and back to the hospital and back so many times people are just expecting that your heart's gon' give out and you'll keel over any second now."

"So basically they're trying to give my body a little extra help?" I yelped. I was furious. Those jerks! Would _anyone_ ever be convinced I wasn't as weak as my heart was?

Well anyone who wanted to bump me would get an ear full, I promised.

"So who is this boy? Tell us the truth!" Cerise urged.

I shrugged, "Like I said before. His name really _is_ Jasper." Then I proceeded to tell them of his rudeness, his refusal to talk to me, and how the only reason _why_ I had managed to get his name in the _first_ place was because I had to threaten him.

"I wasn't joking when I said Jasper's an asshole. Because he is!" I finished just as someone bumped into me again.

I didn't even look this time. I twisted around and shrieked, "Stop that! What is your problem?"

Then when I did look, I froze and felt my eyes widen in shock.

"J-JASPER?"

Uh-oh, did he hear me?

Jasper looked down at me blankly from his 6"3 feet of muscle. Then the muscles in his jaws grew taut and he whisked past me silently.

A stupid grin exploded on my face and Lauren spluttered, "T-THAT was Jasper? He's so…CUTE!"

"He followed me to school…" I gasped. My friends seemed to have reached this realization at the same time as well and gave me looks of horror. I knew very well that the Biloxi Regional Hospital was at _least_ a town over. Nowhere near _this_ school!

"Go GET 'im!" Mary Ann hissed at me and gave me a shove in the direction that he had taken off in. I didn't need to be told twice.

I shot down the hall, twirling and springing agilely to avoid the bumps of people directed at me from people here and there. There was no way anyone was going to keep me down _this_ time!

Then I found him rummaging through what must have been his locker and came to an abrupt halt, almost colliding with the lockers in my haste.

"Jasper! I'm so glad to see you!" I gasped for air and closed the locker so that I could properly see his face. He shot me what I realized was a look of exasperation and opened the door again. Then he promptly went back to his digging. Like that was going to discourage me!

"What classes are you in? What grade are you in? How old _are_ you?" I persisted hoping for answers. He slammed his locker door shut and started walking.

I jumped to catch up with him and rammed face-first into his chest when he turned around abruptly. It was like running smack dab into a wall of granite. He had the strangest look on his face. I didn't even have to think about it. His feelings of guilt hovered in the air above us.

"Look, Alice. I think it'd be best if you stopped talking to me from now on," he declared, looking me square in the eye. To let me know that he meant it.

This piqued my interest. He was not speaking to me scornfully as he usually did, but sincerely. His sincerity, which seemed to ring in every word, made me feel a sense of ease.

"Why?" I asked simply.

Was I really that annoying? Maybe if he talked to me once in a while my one-sided conversations would be _two_-sided conversations. And thus more enjoyable for the both of us, I thought and felt amused. But I wasn't about to point that out to him now. I was kind of hoping he'd pick that up on his own.

A confused look flashed upon his handsome face. I was pleased to see that his rare lack of certainty made him seem years younger. It was very cute.

"Is something funny?" he spat.

At this, I burst out laughing. Which seemed to confuse him even more. Funnier and funnier!

"You-Your expression!" I grinned, "It's so darling!"

Jasper frowned and turned his head quickly. This annoyed me and I spluttered in mid-laugh.

"Hey! Hey! Don't ignore me!" I piped up and stood on tiptoes to peer into his face. Reluctantly he turned to face me and caught me off guard. I was suddenly very close to him. Embarrassed, I fell back onto my heels grinning sheepishly. Oops.

"I don't think it would be in your best interest if you kept talking to me," he growled menacingly despite my previous outburst. "You need to stop following me around like this. You shouldn't interact with me." I could tell by the look in his eyes he was adamant in his decision.

"Do you really mean that?" I asked quietly. "Because I _like_ talking to you."

Duh.

"You SHOULDN'T! You can't," he retorted. Then he composed himself and his face was once again a creaseless mask of ivory.

It was funny though. He still seemed to struggle with his words.

"You stay up late every night in the hospital at midnight to follow around a hospital volunteer collect trash and mop the floors. You are wasting your breath talking to me when I've never fully responded to your attention. You're at a very important stage in your life, Alice." We both knew that we were referring to my chronic heart condition.

"And to spend that time talking to someone who won't talk back to you is just, stupid." He said sounding absolutely cruel. "You should spend your nights getting plenty of sleep so that you can be wide and alert for whatever the next day may throw at you. Do yourself that favor, at least."

I felt my heart sink. This wasn't what I had hoped to hear from him. He was right of course, I thought. Everything that he had said made perfect sense. All concrete logic with a touch of sincerity.

Bullshit. I would not be fooled.

Jasper, I realized then, I was a man with the gift of the silver tongue.

Was he ashamed to be walking around me because I just so happened to be cursed with a weak heart? Was I to blame if God had not looked kindly upon me throughout life? I thought and started to get angry with him.

How could he be so blunt! How could he be so cold-hearted? Didn't it occur to him that I wanted to talk to him? That I _needed _to talk to him?

I set my hands on my hips and whisked around to tap one foot on the floor. I changed my mind and whipped around to meet his black eyes.

I really didn't know why it suddenly hurt that he was trying to push me away when he had never made an effort to be close to me in the first place. Why it meant so much to me. But what more could I do by clinging to a man who so adamantly demanded that I not speak to him?

"If that's what you want…" I said frostily and then I forced myself to walk away. It took all of my will power not to show him that he had hurt me. Because I felt as if my throat were on fire. That's pretty much the feeling you get when you know you're VERY much unwanted. How unwanted?

He didn't come after me, I can tell you that much. Of course I didn't expect him to.

I told myself later on at lunch in the courtyard that I could function perfectly well without Jasper.

Even though he was currently sitting on the bench across the yard before me staring at me thoughtfully, with a delectable red apple situated on the bench beside him. Even though he was currently driving me nuts.

Damn…

I twisted around and tuned into my friends' heated conversation.

"Well now _here_ is a scandalous secret that I heard this morning when papa was at breakfast!" Mary Ann whispered. We were currently trading rumors. We all knew that they were just rumors. But I guess it hadn't really sunk in yet, that rumors sometimes hurt…very much.

"I heard that a young man was found in an alley about 2 or 3 days ago…with his throat…torn…to ribbons!"

Lauren gasped and her hand flew to her throat fearfully, "Oh my goodness! How horrible!"

Cerise nodded in agreement, "Yes! But worse'n THAT is that it took them so long to publish it! Papa was furious. And from what _I_ hear it might've been suicide! There was the darned biggest knife beside him and it was all bloody! Can you imagine?"

Mary Ann sighed sadly, "Maybe it was unrequited love or some."

Oy vey, those romantics. It was clear _someone_ was still dabbling in those flowery romance novels.

But the thought struck a chord in my mind.

"Oh!" Mary Ann's eyes lit up with excitement. "Maybe you knew 'im, Mary Alice? He was wearing that hospital uniform from the Biloxi Regional Hospital and they say he worked there _quite_ often."

Suddenly I felt the blood drain from my face. Oh no…oh dear god no.

"What was his name?" I squeaked. Even though I thought I knew. "They give a name?"

"Latty? Patty?" Cerise fumbled with the name I knew very well. "Potty?"

The girls dissolved into a fit of giggles. But I didn't think it was very funny.

"Chris Potty-somethin'. I've already forgetten it," she said shrugged with a smile.

"Christian Petty?" I said faintly glancing over at Jasper. He had suddenly jumped up and was quickly retreating into the building.

Cerise clapped her hands and pointed to me as if I had won the lottery, "YES! Yes! _That_ was his name, I'm sure of it! Christian Petty."

The bottom of my stomach dropped out from beneath me. I fell back upon the tree we sat beneath in shock.

This could not be happening. I couldn't believe it. Mr. Petty had killed himself over…me? Had my rejection of his affections pushed him to tear out his own throat and commit suicide?

"Did you know him, by chance?" Lauren asked. I was pretty sure she had noticed my stunned expression.

"I—I think I've heard of him. I've…I've never really known him so well," I murmured blankly and dropped my head so that my long hair concealed the emotions of grief that twisted my face.

How could I _not_ know him, though? After all, I was the reason why he was dead. I had pushed him to his death. I hadn't known it before it was too late, but I was his unrequited love.

* * *

Ouch would be appropriate, I guess. 

So as you can see things are steadily going downhill for this story. Hey, I'm a fan of soap operas (the good Korean ones! Not the corny American ones (sorry for all those American soap fans reading this XD). Gotta be some drama in a relationship. It's so difficult to write a romance with all the swirling emotions! Im getting all dizzy and poetic when I'm writing lately. I made a huge effort to add in _some_ Southern accent seeing as the story takes place in Mississippi. Tho im too much of a coward to go full blown-southern. So if you see grammar typos in the dialogue…they're totally intentional.

Things are darker too. Some vampire stories usually always are somewhere so this ain't no different. Nope nope!

Anyhow, I'd love to hear what you all think! Please review! (Even if it is to criticize, laugh, rant, or ask me questions. I'd love to hear from you all. I'll be sure to get back to you who have a point for me! I love my reviews :D)

Ja ne til next chapter!


	4. No More Games

**

* * *

****Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 4: "No More Games"

_It's all my fault….Mr. Petty is dead…I pushed him over the edge…_

See, this was what ran through my head every day and night like an endless song. A hysterical, nagging voice that made me cringe.

The worst part was that _I_ was to blame. You see it wasn't a game anymore, Bella. I had unwittingly played with him, naively flirted with his heart, but in the end I was the one who had lost. Not Mr. Petty.

Believe me when I say this: there's no bigger pain in the back than having a person's death on your mind. Instead of Jasper, now Mr. Petty's shadow seemed to loom over my conscience menacingly.

My friends, concerned with this behavior, tried their best to console me.

"I really wish you'd tell us what in the Sam Hill's _wrong_ with you, Mary Alice!" Cerise cried, her voice trembling as she nibbled on what were once her fingernails. I'd have to rid her of that habit. (A/N: Ha, something that me and Cerise have in common…:P)

I sighed deeply and yanked her hand away from her mouth. "STOP that!"

"What I don't get is why you won't tell us what's goin' out. And don't you EVEN say there ain't nothin' wrong. I mean what's with the bitten fingernails and shaky voice? I've known you since we were 5 and you only do that when you're extremely bothered," Lauren pointed out.

I gaped and my shoved my own ragged and bitten fingernails behind my back.

"There is NOTHING wrong with me!" I insisted.

Mary Ann and Lauren raised their eyebrows when my voice cracked on 'nothing'. Stupid female emotions! I growled. Cerise just laughed a bit nervously.

I refused to let up.

People no longer attempted to bump me and merely watched me drift mindlessly throughout the halls. I could feel their eyes on me, parting for me, and made no attempt to snap out of it. I'm pretty sure Jasper could sense my pain too. As always, I could sense his (What he was aching from was beyond me, but I guess seeing me only made it worse).

It wasn't bad enough I had to be in pain but now I could taste _his _stupid pain along with my own!

I hated it.

This happy guilt trip went on for about a week before Jasper finally brought up the courage to talk to me about it. Imagine! HE was coming to ME now! But I didn't want to hear it right now.

If he knew this, he didn't care.

As I trudged through the front doors to the school he instantly came out of nowhere to grab my hand.

"What?" I groaned wearily, too tired to register that my hand was gripped snugly in his cold one.

"What's happened to you?" he demanded.

I turned to look him in the eye, "Life." I muttered darkly. "You play games, and you're gonna get burned."

This reply seemed to startle him, as if they held some other meaning.

I had to get away.

Away from all the questions.

"I don't like you this," he spat. "What the _hell_ happened? You don't dance around anymore. You're not happy." He chose his next words carefully. "You're always…black."

Although I knew that he was referring to my mood, I didn't let it show.

I laughed hoarsely, "So I'm_ colored_ now? Is that what you're trying to say? I don't have time for it, Jasper," I said and turned away.

He yanked me back to him so hard that I staggered into his stone chest.

"What?" I snapped, trying to sound annoyed so that I could cover the underlying nervousness I was feeling.

_So close to him_, I thought as I inhaled the sweetness of his breath.

_All I had to do was lift up my head and lean in…lean in for a kiss…just a little closer.…_

This seemed to have an effect on him too, I saw. He was looking at the base of my throat with a most peculiar look in his eyes. Although his eyes were black, they seemed to smolder.

_Why…?_

He shook himself out of it and pushed himself as far away from me as keeping a hold on my wrist would permit. Then he shot me a blistering glare from afar.

"Do you have a problem?" I demanded.

"YES," he growled, "You. I want to know why you're so unhappy. Why you're…dead to the world. Who's hurt you like this?"

Who's hurt me like this? Who brought all this down on me?

Me, I swallowed.

"Is there a problem?" a voice called out behind me sharply. Wearily, I turned around and found Scott Harrison in all his strawberry-blonde glory coming down the steps. He had a look of concern on his face as he made his way down the school steps.

Jasper started growling in his throat menacingly.

The monotonous song was starting to get louder in my head, making my head ache horribly. I wanted nothing more than to be alone. If I couldn't escape my misery I could at least spare others the pain.

But today, things were just not going my way.

"Shit," I said through grit teeth as Cerise, Lauren, and Mary Ann scrambled to my rescue the moment they saw Jasper's grip on my wrist. Lauren shot Jasper dirty look. He returned her glare for glare.

"So this is Jasper," she drawled. He didn't reply.

"What do you want with Mary Alice? Don't you think you've caused enough trouble with her already?" Cerise piped up.

Lauren strode up to Jasper and poked a finger into his chest.

"Let go of Mary Alice right now. You've obviously hurt her dreadfully. If you EVER come near my friend ever again, I swear you'll regret it!"

It was beyond me how Lauren intended to punish a 6"-something man packing 100-something pounds of lithe muscle, but I was considerably touched by her loyalty to me as a friend and smiled weakly.

This didn't seem to occur to Jasper. Instead he gaped and looked from me to Lauren as if the truth would somehow reveal itself in our eyes.

How I had been so clueless to Christian's infatuation? Why would he tear himself up over a crush?

And do such a good job murdering himself too! The guy literally tore his throat out with a sharp, but small, knife. That must have taken some quick reflexes.

I stopped.

How HAD he managed to kill himself? It was actually a marvel that he had so brutally mutilated himself…almost unnatural. Was there foul play?

How could it make my heart ache so that it was suddenly harder to breathe? I thought and inhaled a sorely needed fresh breath of air.

My chest is tight…

_And I am in a narrow place…the absence of... his… face…has robb'd the sullen air of gold..._

Since when had drawing a breath become such a tedious chore? I started to panic.

Oh no. Why NOW?…I thought in anguish when I recognized what was happening. I sat down on the steps hard.

Daylight suddenly faded into moonlight and I took a deep straggling breath. I was no longer aware of what was going on around me. I squeezed my eyes shut.

_The wildwood of adventurous thought…and lands of dawn my dream had won  
_

"Mary Alice?" someone cried and then someone had cradled me in his arms and was swiftly making their way down the steps.

…_thro' the dull gate, a flower'd play…and odour of undying spring…_

"Her heart…it's-it's getting faster!" I heard Jasper declare.

Suddenly his face alight with a look of alarm swam into my view. I reached for it. But before I could do anything further the image faded and pulled me into a swirling vortex of darkness. My friends' shrieks echoed in my head the whole way down.

* * *

A voice echoed in the darkness much later. 

The endless guilt song in my head continued to drone on, but I felt relieved to find that it had been suddenly reduced to a dull roar.

Not that I wanted to wake up, mind. I settled back into the warm folds of sleep.

"Mary Alice?"

Oh for the love of…!

I rolled over onto my back muttering under my breath darkly.

"Go 'way."

He started to laugh and shook me anyway, "Actually you've been asleep for about 3 days. I think it's time for you to wake up now."

I groaned. Now?

"Now," an unfamiliar voice, a deeper male voice, ordered dryly.

I sucked in my cheeks, furious. And yet my eyes snapped open.

Doctor Carlisle was standing over my bed with a smiling expression.

"Welcome back to earth, Mary Alice," he greeted me and ruffled my hair fondly. To someone behind him, "Edward please get me a glass of water for Mary Alice while I take her pulse."

Upon hearing the word 'pulse' I automatically sat up and lifted up the back of my hospital blouse for inspection. Dr. Carlisle pressed the end of the stethoscope to me back and ordered me to breathe.

I've been in the hospital for too long, I thought miserably.

While Dr. Carlisle jotted down notes about my condition, I leaned around him trying to get a good look at whom he had been talking to. Dr. Carlisle moved to the side. It was then that I and saw a very tall and lean young man with unruly hair the color of rust leaning over the sink to fill a paper cup with water for me. He made his way over to the bed with exaggerated slowness and gave me the paper cup.

I scowled at the pace he was moving, offended. Did he think he would scare me and make my poor heart burst? Great, I thought and started to get angry.

Then his gaze flickered and he staggered slightly.

"Clumsy..." he muttered gruffly and I smiled weakly.

Edward was a very good-looking young man, I noted. He was probably around my age. He was much like Dr. Carlisle. The same pale skin, the same dark purple circles under his eyes, same butterscotch colored eyes.

I nodded a solemn greeting to him, a sort of weight in my heart shifting. He smiled at me a bit tentatively and then retreated into the far corner of the room. Maybe he was shy, I figured. I shrugged and then proceeded to go back to my slumber. Dr. Carlisle held my shoulders firmly and I growled in my throat. He ignored me.

And for the first time since I had discovered Mr. Petty's death…at the same time, I wanted to be released of this feeling. To take my mind off the pain I glanced over to Edward, currently staring off blankly to my colorful array of jewelry on the vanity from the corner of the room.

He actually looked pretty old to be Dr. Carlisle's son. I didn't even know that the Doctor was married. All those poor nurses!

"He's not…" Edward blurted out suddenly. His eyes widened and he wheeled around ringing his hands through his hair, obviously having made some mistake.

Confused, I turned to my doctor. Dr. Carlisle started laughing. I looked from the doctor to Edward (who was gazing out the window looking furious with himself) trying to figure out the joke. They never told me.

Instead Dr. Carlisle sighed and motioned for Edward to come closer, "Edward, why don't you introduce yourself to my patient."

Cautiously, Edward edged over to the bed and nodded to me, "Hello, my name is Edward Ma—Cullen. I'm Carlisle's son."

"I adopted Edward about 2 years ago," Dr. Carlisle added and made a note on his clipboard.

I tapped a little polka tune on my thigh. The way Edward introduced himself made me cock my head to the side curiously. He didn't talk like he was from around here. His accent was different from his son's. Odd. I figured I would ask him or Dr. Carlisle about that later.

"I'm Mary Alice Brandon," I said steadily. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Cullen"

"Edward, Miss Brandon," he insisted. "Just Edward."

I smiled gently, feeling pleased, "Okay _Edward_. Since I'm calling you Edward, you should call me Mary Alice! It's only fair."

As I said that Edward chuckled lightly. I smiled. It was a very pleasant sound.

"Mary Alice," he tried it out for size.

"You don't talk like people around here do," I said. "Where are you from?"

This seemed to startle Dr. Carlisle. Edward looked at his father before replying, "Yes, well I _did_, grow up in Chicago. That was where I first met Carlisle."

"It's no wonder you have such an accent!" I exclaimed. Did that mean Dr. Carlisle was married? I asked him then.

"No. He isn't," Edward admitted.

However when I looked over to Dr. Carlisle he had a sort of vague look in his eyes as he stared over at the tree near my window. Then he seemed to snap out of.

Dr. Carlisle sighed in resignation and tapped his clipboard with the pen smartly, "Ah, well it's time for me to analyze these reports and fill out some papers. Your parents and your friends have been worried about you since you came in."

Then I remembered.

"Jasper!"

Dr. Carlisle raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Jas…Did a really tall guy with blonde hair stop by?" I asked hopefully. Please please please…

He shook his head, "I haven't seen anyone matching that description visit you. I noticed a redheaded young man come in about a day ago but that was about it. Are you expecting someone? A boyfriend?"

I flushed red. Jasper? Ha, boyfriend my butt. That was an overstatement. Not that I'd mind. Having him as a boyfriend, that is.

Edward's raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir. Just…a friend," I sighed.

I think. If he would ATLEAST talk to me!

"Well, you'll probably be in bed for quite a while, young lady. I'm going to recommend that to your parents for a while."

Edward ducked his head at the expression on my face.

I started to protest but my doctor put a firm hand on my leg to shut me up. He made me promise to not go on trips for a little while. Maybe about a week or so. Of course I put up a courageous fight. But in the end it was just simply not enough for the will of Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

I was going to be in this room for a while.

He and Edward started to gather their things to together. As they were making their way out the door Dr. Carlisle paused and turned to me, with a look of deep concern on his face.

"Also, your heart rate and blood pressure have been pretty strenuous as of lately. Something must be bothering you. Let me know if you'd like to talk to me about it."

I turned away and murmured, "Thank you, doctor. That's right kind of you. I…I really appreciate it."

"This applies to me too," I looked up when Edward started suddenly. "If you need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be—I'll be helping out in the hospital for a while."

I nodded my thanks to him as well.

Then father and son waved a last goodbye to me before departing.

I fell back onto my pillows with a sigh of relief. So now I was alone and stuck in this damn bed. What could I do? I needed some sort of way to fool around without hurting myself.

I would look at the big tree beside my window and wonder what it would be like to climb up in its branches and not have to worry about falling. To feel the rough bark beneath my fingers and the wind in my hair as I climbed higher and higher. To breathe in the fresh ocean air at the beach with Jasper beside me and hear the gentle roar of the ocean as it washed upon the shore.

We would talk for hours together. I could ask him about himself. Where did he come from? I didn't know about his family. Or what songs he liked. What his favorite food was. Geeze, I didn't even know his last name! Whether he'd ever gotten really angry with his little sisters or brothers. Whether he'd ever cried for someone.

Whether he'd ever fallen in love…

At this thought I sat up at the window.

Where _was_ Jasper anyway? How was he?

How I missed him…

All of these thoughts ran through my head as I sat there for about 2 weeks, never, for the first time in my life, ever leaving my room.

Even if I could ever leave my room I didn't want to.

I couldn't and wouldn't.

But what I didn't expect…was for him to come to me.

I had been organizing my jewelry one night (you couldn't imagine the knots my beaded necklace would get into) when the door to my room slammed into the wall with such a force that the wood splintered and the door itself hung on one hinge.

Jasper stood in my doorway glaring down at me, absolutely furious. I let out a little eep and cringed under his gaze.

"I can't do this anymore…I can't…can't…"

"Jasper?" I asked, my voice squeaking. "You broke my--"

In a flash he was stood in front of me and seized me up in his arms. He pulled me into him so that my feet dangled in the air, he was so tall.

"Jasper? Jasper what's wrong!" I cried, not daring to move. His grip on me was so painful it was almost unbearable.

He pulled his head back and stared into my eyes. My heart fluttered with giddiness.

I was startled to see that they were the deepest black that I had ever encountered.

I found myself being pulled into his eyes, falling in orbs of black.

Jasper burrowed his face in my neck and inhaled deeply. He groaned and trembled fiercely.

"_Talk to me…"_ he whispered hoarsely with desperation that gripped my heart.

"_Alice…please…talk to me."_

* * *

Okay that chapter was kind of hard to write. All the dark brooding was totally depressing me haha. Sorry if that went on for a while, btw but that was sorta the point. XD sorry it took me so long to post this up. Chapter 5's been taking me a while on account of the fact that ive been studying for finals coming up next month so had to take a break. 

Those parts in italics while she was having a heart attack weren't mine, btw. basically my poetry is shit lol. So I borrowed a poem called **I Am Shut Out Of My Own Heart by Christopher Brennan. **Im sorta hoping that adds as a sorta disclaimer for THAT. PLEASE don't sue me.

I thought that after a while it might be kinna nice to see Edward in here since we were seeing Carlisle too. I know im totally veering away from the original in these facts but that's what fics are for, right?

Ok, about how long it takes for chapters to be posted again. Im trying to stay ahead of you guys. So when I post chapter 3 it's because I just finished chapter 4. when I'm finished with chapter 5 ill put up chapter 4. blah blah blah…you get it. So that's how it's goin right now. So if you ask me when the next one's gonna b out I'll say 'whenever the chapter after THAT is finished.' I always have to write, and reread a couple of times to touch stuff up. A little through add in here, take out something there. Move that there. That kinna thing.

In conclusion ill now shut up and start working on chapter 6, since that's where i will be now that you're reading this. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAISES AND EMAILS! They made me blush lol and I can probably say such support very much tempted me to post ahead of time. So again…domo arigatou gozaimas!

Annyong! (switches to Korean)


	5. the First and Last Time

* * *

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 5: The First and Last Time

"_Alice…please…talk to me," _he had said.

I felt my breath catch in my throat and suddenly all thoughts about Mr. Petty disintegrated in my mind. For the first time…Jasper wanted to have a conversation with me. Could it be true? I could only ask…

"Why?"

He lifted his head up from my throat and I stared into fiery globes of black, "To keep me sane. So I _won't_ give in to It! So I can be…" his gaze faltered. "So I can be…good." I had no idea what he was talking about. But I nodded to him.

This was what I wanted too. What I needed. But first…

"Erm, Jasper, please hold on for a moment."

Jasper stiffened as if realizing for the first time that he had been holding me to him. He pushed me away from him very quickly and fled over to the other side of my bed, making himself sit with his hands clasped very tightly. I found myself shaking my head in admiration of his speed. It was…inhuman. Certainly something I could never ignore. But the wild look in his eyes told me that now was not the time to ask questions.

Then I got back to business. I pinched myself and yelped loudly.

Jeeze Louise, it hurt. Yay! So I _wasn't_ dreaming. I sighed with relief and started to make my way over to the bed. Jasper's eyes flickered, startled, and suddenly he was in the corner of my room.

"Oh my goodness!" I gasped and stopped. "You're so…fast!"

He merely looked over at me blankly. I knew without a doubt now that he was like no one I had ever known. That he was special somehow. He would probably leave if I commented further I realized with a sinking heart. So I shelved this realization away as food for thought.

Jasper slowly walked over to my bed and stood closest to the wall, his big black eyes peering out at me a child who was waiting to be punished.

"What's...?"

"Talk," he barked and all traces of the timid child were gone. I put my hands on my hips and arched an eyebrow.

"When you start acting like a gentleman we'll talk," I shot back. Chastened, he looked down at me defiantly, effectively masking the hole I'd just poked in his male pride. I hid a smile and coughed.

Slowly, I edged over to the bed and sat down on Dr. Carlisle's stool, my eyes never leaving his. The sudden tension in his body as I rolled closer didn't escape my observation. I had no idea what were the reasons behind his fear, but I knew that he would surely run if I made any sudden movements, so I had to be very careful.

I took a hold of the clipboard beside me and set it on my lap quizzically, "So Jasper…?"

I paused. He raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to expect.

"What is your last name?" I pressed.

He scowled and didn't reply. I sighed. "Look here, now. In order for us to have a proper conversation you have to respond. What is your surname?"

"No."

I rolled my eyes, "No…hmmm is that a Japanese last name? Or a Vietnamese last name? Fascin..."

"Whitlock," he cut me off sharply and just to shut me up, reported his life status to me. "My name is Jasper Whitlock. I'm originally from Galveston, Texas. I started volunteering in the hospital at night in order to…to practice some self-control."

I chuckled and leaned on my stool wiggling my eyebrows at him in what I felt was a pretty darn good Groucho Marx impression. An odd look crossed his face and I had the distinct impression that he was trying to remember how to smile. Aha, he was a tricky nut to crack!

"So, Mr. Whitlock, welcome to the Biloxi Regional Hospital. My name is Dr. Mary Alice Brandon and I will be your doctor this lovely moonlit evening!" I said in that cheerful, drawling tone Dr. Carlisle usually tried on me when I refused to choke down the newest crap-flavored death draught in the medicine world. The medicine world was a horrifying and cruel world for us hell-ridden patients.

"I don't need a doctor," he said quietly as if I had struck a bad memory.

"Why's that Mr. Whitlock?"

"I can't get sick or hurt. My body doesn't allow it," he turned his face away from mine. I cocked my head to the side, amused.

A man who was sure he couldn't get sick? That was nothing new with the way them men thought they were immune to the world. What poppycock!

"Well, whether you can get sick or not it is my job to assess. Besides," I pointed out and jabbed a pen in his direction, "not all sicknesses and pain is physical. There are sicknesses of the _mind_ as well as sicknesses of the heart."

Like the one that was festering in _my_ heart somewhere!

Jasper's ears perked up and braced his hands on the edge of the bed to bring his scowling face closer to mine, "No one may cure me of the sickness that I have. I'm afraid I will be sick forever."

"Says who!" my eyes narrowed at him and I stabbed the clipboard emphatically. "You tryin say that there ain't no hope for you, Jasper Whitlock? Hope is the one thing that keeps people like me going!"

The look he gave me was a forlorn one, "No one may cure me of the sickness I have, Alice. Humans die because of my sickness. Hundreds of men, women, and children. Dead."

"America would never be if people had no hope!" I piped up loudly, jumping to my feet. He straightened up quickly. He wasn't going to rain on MY parade. I'd been stuck in the hospital for some time and didn't let ANYONE get me down. "I have hope! Why can't you?"

This seemed to catch him off guard and he blinked, "America is a world power. We are merely the blemishes upon her soil, Alice." Then he glanced down at my lap. "You're mutilating that poor clipboard," he added.

I looked down at the doctor's clipboard. The surface was pockmarked by the indentations of my pen. I sat down on the stool again, hard. A sheepish grin stretched itself over my face and I pushed the clipboard onto the bed. "So…er, tell me Mr. Whitlock, what compelled you to come to me?"

Jasper frowned, "Definitely not your stupid interpretation of a doctor. Stop it. Without a doubt, you are currently putting doctors around the nation to shame." He sat down on the edge of the bed.

I brightened considerably and sat a little straighter, "Was that supposed to be a joke? Did you just crack a joke?" I asked, my eyes shining with pride and excitement.

"I think," he went on to ignore me, "That you just enjoy getting a rise out of people. Although now that I think of it, you've not really been bothering me much as of lately."

"I think that _was_ a joke!" I beamed like an idiot and then found that he wasn't even listening to me anymore and threw my house slipper at his head. He merely dodged the offending slipper.

"Violence isn't the answer, Alice."

"So what else is there to know about you?" I said quickly. Desperate to unearth more facts about this amazing person. "What kind of things do you like to do?"

"Nothing," he shrugged and stared down at my feet. Feeling a bit self-conscious I curled my toes beneath my feet and bit my lip.

"You gotta like _something_," I prodded.

"Cleaning. I think I like cleaning," he said thoughtfully.

I paused and gave him a good hard look, "Are you kidding? You like to…clean?"

Lord, I didn't think it was possible…

"Tell me why. I won't judge you, I promise!" I urged him.

He looked at me, contemplating my motives before he answered, "It's a good way to take my mind off of things." Damn he was vague.

"What kind of things? Work? Money? Parent problems? Stress issues? Girl troubles?" I quirked an eyebrow at the last suggestion. Hopefully that wasn't it. Please please please…

"None of that," he shook his head. "Eating problems."

Immediately my eyes zoned in on his lean frame. What was the problem? He was looking into my eyes with a deep expression that sent me heart spinning in circles. It was a deep and calculating expression that was calm enough. But the fact that a large hand was clenching the overbearingly white sheets on my bed told me that this was an extremely uncomfortable topic for him.

Okay, I could deal with that. So eating was a touchy subject.

"What else?"

Immediately he opened his mouth and I cut him off, "And be _honest_, Jasper Whitlock!"

He glared at me and then snapped, "Sitting here!"

"Wha?" Wow, that certainly caught me off guard.

"Sometimes…sometimes one of the best things to do is to just sit and do _nothing_. You make me think of _other_ things," he went on, his voice tight with tension. "It takes my mind off of It."

I felt myself blush and stared down at my ragged fingernails. So being with me was something he enjoyed? A sense of happiness exploded in my chest.

But what in the hell was It? I thought, absolutely confused and in a sense, deeply concerned. Whatever this It was, it was not good at all and obviously took a very great toll on his life. I wanted so much to press him and ask him questions. But I didn't want to push him too far.

I looked up. He was wringing his hands in his lap now. His face was expressionless but every time he fidgeted he expressed what his face would not. This It thing was eating him up inside.

So that was it. My job was to take his mind off of…It.

"I like to dance!" I chirped and sprang into air, doing a very nice pirouette.

"When you dance… it's very…it's very…" he paused.

I smiled at him and spun to a halt near him. He leaned away from me. "What do you think of my dancing? Am I a silly girl to dance around?" I said, teasing.

Jasper snorted and shook his head while keeping an eye on me to make sure I kept my distance. A lock of honey blonde hair fell into his eyes casually. I had the most compelling urge to brush it back in place. To keep my fingers preoccupied, I clasped my hands together above my head and did another pirouette.

"It's lovely," he said carefully. "It's you. But you haven't been yourself lately."

Startled, I stumbled into the mirror that Edward had erected in my room for me last week.

"Why haven't you been yourself lately? Why have you stopped dancing?"

Nervously I checked to see that my mirror hadn't cracked and then twirled away from him singing, "I don't know what you're talking about! Tra la la la la!"

"You're lying. I can feel it," he growled. "What happened to being honest!"

I jumped on one foot to stall for time. I don't want to talk about this I don't want to talk about this I don't want to talk about this! "It'll dampen the atmosphere! I like not talking about it! Please, let's just leave it at that. You'll probably be disgusted with me."

"I'm here. The atmosphere is black already."

"What a bright and happy little man you are," I muttered under my breath.

"I try. Tell me," he replied coolly.

"Bite me!" I retorted, baring my teeth at him in the mirror like them little ratty dogs that growled at postmen from afar.

He got very quiet then. I twirled around fearfully to see that he had a tortured expression on his face. His lips were moving rapidly, but oddly enough no sound came out. What on earth?

He looked up and his eyes were fierce now.

"Tell me Alice!" His voice rang with immediate and unquestioned authority.

"Say the magic word!" I snapped and plopped down on the floor so that my big skirt billowed out around me. I wouldn't give in without a fight, though I did feel sorry for having previously embarrassed him somehow.

"_NOW_," he hissed.

It was the wrong word but it did make an impression on me.

"I…" I ducked my head down and tucked my legs beneath me. "I…I killed someone."

His reply was surprised, but not disgusted. It was odd that the notion of killing someone didn't seem to faze him, "You…killed someone. How big was he? 3 feet tall?"

I jumped to my feet. Gasp! Was he teasing me? I wondered. I clasped my heart and staggered around. He looked on at me in horror, "My heart! Can I take it? Were you just teasing me? My heart's going to burst with the shock!" then I proceeded to do a dramatic faint that girls feigned when a boy asked her out.

There was no concern from him. He blew air out of his nose, "I don't doubt it for a minute. Weak heart," he said dryly.

HA! He _was_ teasing me!

I took off my remaining slipper and threw it at his head. This time his hand shot up and caught it without even batting an eyelash. Shoot!

"You've got such good reflexes!" I exclaimed and shifted from foot to foot with feigned enthusiasm, though inside I felt nearly overwhelmed with the sadness and shame.

"So whom did you kill?" he went on, brushing past the diversion I'd attempted to create. Disheartened, I dropped my head onto my chest and looked at the floor.

"I-I broke his heart," I admitted sadly.

"Really?" he asked me solemnly. "Who was this man?"

I twisted my hands in my lap. It only took a second for a shadow to fall over me.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly in anguish and tilted my head up allowing crystalline tears to trickle down my cheeks. It was only a matter of seconds before I was sinking to the floor weakly.

"I-I killed Mr. Petty. I didn't m-mean to…b-but, I told him I d-didn't l-love him… and he…and he…he went into an alley and ripped his throat out like a cattle in the meat house!"

I inhaled a sharp breath and buried my face in my trembling fingers in shame.

Normally I would never do this in front of another person. But it was strange. His presence seemed to effortlessly fill up all the empty corners in the room in such a way that comforted me completely.

That made me feel as if it was okay to tell him anything and everything.

"It's….it's all my _fault_," I gasped and rocked forward on my haunches.

"Alice, look at me," he whispered. I shook my head hard.

"Look. At. Me," he demanded, his voice hard.

Reluctantly I peeked out between my fingers and saw him looking at me, his expression hard and pained.

"You see…THIS is what happens when you try to hold these sorts of things in," he said sadly and motioned to the way that the tears just wouldn't stop coming. How my throat felt so clogged with emotions.

"Like a dam bursting, it will tear you apart."

I could only cry harder, my shoulders heaving.

I wanted him to grab me and take me in his arms. But he only stood there staring down at me with a torn look on his face.

"Is there nothing I can do to stop myself from hurting you like this? Will you hate me when you realize the truth?" he croaked.

If there was ever a time that I didn't have the patience to contemplate his cryptic remarks it was now. I was slowly falling apart now and it wasn't as if there was a lever I could pull to somehow make it all stop. To make the hurt go away.

"Alice, you didn't do anything wrong. Mr. Petty didn't die because of you. He died…He died at my hands." he paused. It was something that was very difficult to say. His next words he growled, "I could not let him just walk away after hurting you like he did that night. Never."

What?

"I…"

I whimpered and looked up but found to my dismay that he had left. He had left me both out of shame and also to give me a chance to recover my dignity. In order to the terms with the truth I first had to let the pain flow out through the faucets of my tears. Just one more time.

So there I was…I was a girl sitting alone on the floor of my room in the middle of the night collecting puddles of tears in creases of her skirt.

And then after that, I think I was finally all right.

* * *

"Mary Alice Brandon you stop that right this moment!" the nurse shrilled and got back up on the stool.

_Pft! Pshoo! _

"Why? I'm bored," I sighed with relief and proceed to load another spitball into the straw.

After crying my eyes out alone I felt as if a sort of content had settled over my shoulders. BOY did it feel good to have let it out. And right now I needed SOME way to express myself! I smiled up at the colorful variety of spitballs that now decorated the while ceiling.

_Pft! Pshoo!_

"Not another one," Nurse Jenson moaned. She stretched up towards the ceiling at the newly attached spitball just as I happily bopped on over to my table for more ammo.

Actually I was grateful to Jasper for forcing it out of me. I would have certainly never done it on my own. I sighed happily and grabbed a handful of colored paper, reveling in the blissful feeling of release that filled me. The nurse grimaced and made a grab for the paper. I laughed and danced away from her grasp.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" I sang.

And Jasper, having killed Mr. Petty. I couldn't believe it. Jasper had murdered a man? Had he really ripped out that man's throat with his bare hands? I'll admit, my first reaction had been to scream and tell someone.

But hadn't he said that he did it for...for me? That meant that in some sort of roundabout way his reasons for doing it weren't evil. In the most twisted way he did it for my sake. In the way that a man will protect and do anything for the woman he loves, Jasper did it to avenge me. I know that might sound selfish, but the more I thought about it the more it felt true.

Kind of like the male chivalry that men once displayed towards women (Geeze, what _happened_ to that anyhow? Some men these days were such insensitive jerks!) How could someone so scared who, deep down inside, wanted so desperately to be good, be truly evil?

_"I won't give in to It! So I can be…" his gaze faltered. "So I can be…good." _

I nodded to myself in agreement. It did seem as if Jasper had some sort of horrible weight on his shoulders. As if his "disease" was something he couldn't help. As if It, whatever _It_ was, was stopping him from truly living life as he wanted to. He wouldn't even get within a few feet of my while we were talking, for God's sake! His fear of getting close to me, to laughing with me, was undeniable. I could only come to the conclusion that the illness he spoke of was the reason for this. And I wanted so much to cure him of it. But I didn't know HOW.

"Mary Alice," the nurse grunted. Obviously she had gotten back up on the stool, "Why do you insist on such bothersome behavior?"

What was It? I wondered and unconsciously loaded another spitball. My thirst to know was so intense. I felt a twinge of frustration sizzle in my veins.

I shook my head and grimaced. Well, I decided. One way or another I was going to_overcome_ it! And I'd do it for Jasper, so that he could be free of It too, I thought with a look of fierce determination.

I grinned horribly and jumped back onto my bed. Silently I counted down.

One…two…three!

_Pft! Poink!_

I coughed and opened my eyes. Edward looked down at me with an amused expression on his face. My eyes flew to the end of my straw and I found, to my annoyance, that his finger was blocking the opening.

"Mary Alice Brandon, must you distress the nurses so?" he chuckled.

"Edward, you're disrupting me _and _my art session," I pointed out.

He arched an eyebrow, "Annoying the poor nurses is your idea of art?"

"Maybe I do. It sure beats sitting in bed all day staring up at the ceiling like a crazy loon or somethin'," I redirected my gaze to the slender white finger that was blocking my next missile.

In a mock serious tone I said, "Now, remove your finger from my spitball launcher or I will be forced to shoot you, Edward Cullen."

He arched an eyebrow, "Do you really intend to shoot me? Carlisle is right down the hall ready to avenge me."

I grinned wickedly, "Excellent. He won't hear your cries for mercy then. Last warning."

He didn't move.

"One…"

I took a deep breath. Was he sure? I really wouldn't mind shooting him.

"Two…"

Last chance.

"Three!" and took a deep breath.

"Mary Alice, what are you doing?" a voice from the doorway drawled.

Crap, I thought and let out my breath in a loud _whoosh_. I shot Dr. Carlisle a dirty look. He smiled back at me brightly.

Kill joy.

Edward smirked at my look of disappointment. I didn't ever have the chance to even breathe before his hand shot out and snatched the straw out of my hand and he strode towards the exit. I gave a sharp cry.

"Edward Cullen, you gimme back my spitball launcher _right _this min…"

Suddenly he whipped around so fast that he was a blur of white and bronze.

_Pft! Pshoo! Pft! Pshoo!_

I gaped openly at him and burst out laughing at the green spitball he'd shot into my hair and the center of my forehead.

"Alice, dear, you certainly _are_ a work of art, don't you think?" he said smugly before throwing my now traitorous straw to the floor. Dirty.

Carlisle's booming laughter rang out down the hall as I shrieked at Edward's retreating back, "Boy oh BOY are you fast!" Jasper and Carlisle fast. Inhumanly, blurishly fast, that is. "Well, I'll get you back, y'hear?"

I knew without a doubt that I would.

He froze.

Maybe my joke went too far?

Instead he turned around with an odd smile on his face, "Is that a dare?"

He was hiding something, I knew. Something was wrong and he wasn't telling me.

I played right along.

"No, it's a bet. I'm bettin I can get you back soon _enough_!"

'Cuz I would. I knew I would.

Edward didn't reply. But I had a feeling that something much more than a bet had taken place.

I was fairly sure that when it did, I would be ready.

I was dead wrong. That night, things changed drastically.

Now that I think of it, I had been sleeping a dreamless sleep at the time (for once in my life, wouldn't you know it!).But like all good things it didn't last as long as I hoped it would.

Then again, who could sleep when there was a fight going on?

I could hear someone yelling downstairs and I launched myself outta that bed faster than a rocket.

Silently, I followed the sounds of a man yelling, down the stairs and around the corner until I was behind them.

"I'll ask you AGAIN! What do you WANT with her?"

Edward was silently fighting with someone in the middle of the night. And he was furious.

"What I want with Alice is NONE of your GODDAMN business," Jasper hissed. "Now MOVE."

I froze upon hearing his voice.

"I CARE for her. So I MAKE it my business to know WHO she's dealing with!" Edward growled in reply.

There were a few moments of absolute silence in the hallway and I found myself holding my breath. What was going on? My heart thudded rapidly in my chest. I was too stunned to think.

"NO!"

At that moment a snarl echoed down the halls. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand. And unfortunately I heard the sound of crumbling gravel. I screamed and immediately flew around the corner.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP IT!" I shrieked, my eyes wild with terror.

Edward's eyes flew to my own. Jasper, who had Edward pinned to the ground, froze. From the look of things Edward had been slammed into the wall so forcefully that the two of them had actually made a HOLE in it and were wrestling on the ground! I had no idea that anyone could be so amazingly strong.

I won't deny that it scared me. I was pretty surprised that they had the strength to break through a stone wall, but it wasn't the fact that such strength was absolutely inhuman that scared me.

What really scared me was Jasper somehow hurting Edward. Or Edward hurting Jasper. They were two of the more important people in my life and I didn't know what I would do if they were to hurt each other. I didn't like the fact that they were fighting in the first place. Over_ me,_ too, can you imagine?

I had only a moment to look into Jasper's eyes. Only a moment to blink.

And then he was gone.

Edward grit his teeth and was up in a flash. Plaster from the wall that had once separated the room from the hall fell from his shirt and I was aghast at how thick the wall had been.

I knew in an instant that he would give chase and cried, "NO!"

Edward turned to look at me and I ran and planted myself squarely in his path. "Don't...Don't go!" I said frantically and grabbed fistfuls of his white blouse.

His body stiffened.

Surprised, I let go of his shirt and stood there staring him in the eyes.

When I realized that his eyes were black I gasped softly.

No longer gold, as usual. But black. The color of darkness…

What on _earth_ was going on? What was he? What was Jasper?

Could it all be a dream? Was I going crazy? Why did none of this frighten me? How could it all feel so…natural?

Why did he want to hurt Jasper?

Edward interrupted the endless questions that whirled in my head.

"He's not what I thought he'd be," he frowned at a certain spot on the linoleum floor.

"What. Is. Going…ON," I ignored him and looked right into his eyes, just to show him that I was serious about this. Those black eyes stared back at me blankly.

He seemed to be deliberating with himself for a while before he finally spoke.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly watching carefully for my reaction.

Testing me, I realized. Somehow I knew the truth would be an invaluable asset to his perception of me

"Me? That there is something very odd going on and you're not telling me. That you and Jasper are something…inhuman. Something…special." It was an odd word for what they might possibly be, but I found to my satisfaction that the word seemed to roll off my tongue perfectly.

Edward scoffed roughly, "Special? Is that what you call it?"

"Special might not always carry the same meaning for some people," I explained. "It can be a good thing. The sort of thing that can bring the smile to your face. It can be something terrible. Something that can make you cry. Or it can be something so extraordinary, something so…so different, and otherworldly that it can't be defined by dark or light. I think that's what this is." I took a deep breath and continued to ramble on.

"I know that what I'm dealing with, what Jasper is dealing with, and what you are dealing with, _seems _to be nothing short of dark. I can tell by the look on your face. But I know that this is special in an extraordinary way. And this...IT. The way Jasper acts I can _tell_ he's lost himself to this thing. I hate seeing him like that and I NEED to know what IT is!

"It?"

I nodded.

Edward sighed and turned away from me, "I don't think I have a right to say. If anyone should tell you I think it should be him," he declared.

He began to walk away in a sort of weary manner, the soles of his shoes echoing down the halls, leaving me rooted to the spot with questions swirling in my head.

I grit my teeth. Fine then, I'd get answers myself.

And for the first time I was sure. Sure that Edward and Jasper were nothing mediocre in the slightest. I had become a part of something complex and my life would surely never be the same. I was going to find and conquer It for him. Only for him.

* * *

FIRST OFF I WANNA SAY: thank you for all of your kind encouragement to those who wished me well on my final exams! I really appreciate how open-minded and understanding you all are that I haven't posted in a while. Let it be assured that I am _now_ back in the game and am currently putting together chapter 7 now that all the dialogue is all put together. Wine and cheese all around! (t00t t00t!)

Pretty loaded chapter. A bit of swearing, but it IS rated T. Lol, but I have to say that things turned out exactly how I wanted it to. I hope that you enjoyed it. If not, please tell me! (Don't worry I wont bite…hard :) J/J. things seem to be getting more and more serious as we get farther into the story (ha! Especially in the next chapter). I hope that it can still continue to be enjoyable despite this. i tried to make it a little longer for you all who were hopign for longer chapters. that's how i came about with the part where edward confronts jasper. story seems to be full of drama but i like it like that. it adds to the plot more.

At this point in the story Jasper has been trying, like Edward, to stay away from the one person who so captivates him. Of course that didn't really work, as you can see. Edward is able to practice better control and didn't tell Bella about the vampire thing for a while. Jasper on the other hand, doesn't have as much control and is already reluctantly sprouting his emotions and allowing himself to be alone with her at night. And in general pretty much giving himself away as you see towards the end.

Stephenie Meyer said that out of all the vampires Jasper seems to be the darkest and most vampiric of all the Cullens (notice how he had to kill Mr. Petty after the guy made Alice cry? He's extremely protective of Alice and will do _anything_ for her. Like most guys in love, he'll have to urge to kill any man who ever hurts her…except like most guys he'll actually do it).

You guys are constantly reminding me to make sure that I keep the characters as much in-character as possible. Thanks for reminding me! That's always really important and I keep going through the chapter to make sure everything is squared away. Im trying to keep alice as close to the book (with traces of the southern life still attached) as possible, but ive come to realize that edward's and jasper's characters have yet to develop into the characters we see in the book. So im writing about pre-twilight Edward and Jasper. An Edward that is still coming to terms with his new life as a vampire, a depressed Jasper that has lived in a life of darkness forever hunting humans and is looking to change and regain control.

No more! No more! I'm gonna shut up now. More to be talked about as we go along.

Well so far it's been fun writing about Jasper and Alice I'm kinna sad that it's gotta eventually come to an end. It's been suggested that I should write more J+A fics. I love them. They're so much fun to write about. Tho I find myself wondering about the other Cullens. I want to write about them too, add my own little twists and storyline that eventually come full circle. It'd be cool but I still gotta finish about 3 others stories im working on lol. Im currently writing what MIGHT be a j+a. I don't know if you'll enjoy it as much as this one, since it's kinna long-winded and really doesn't have much to do with vampires, but im hoping so once it's finished! Lol I guess without vampires it will really put your love for the J+A couple in general to the test eh? Idk.. :)


	6. Dark and Light

* * *

**Moonlight Melody **

Chapter 6: Dark and Light

Before the fact registered itself in my brain, I was off and set into motion. My heart, my feeble heart, thudded desperately in my chest as I ran down the corridors in search of him. I had this sudden desperate urge to find him and confront him about who he was. About who he had become.

I still don't know what changed my mind. What made me suddenly crave to learn what it was about the darkness that Edward had so emphatically refused to tell me.

But suddenly I wanted to know it. I wanted it all. The secrets displayed before me like playing cards. I already knew for certain that neither he nor Edward, kind and sweet Edward, was human. Ha, not after seeing the way he'd thrown Edward through the wall and then run off faster 'n lightning! But I found that none of that bothered me in the slightest. Sure, it was unusual (hell, this kind of thing NEVER happened).

But it wasn't impossible.

What really got to me the most was that it had destroyed him. I knew that it had killed him, it had taken over everything he had once been.

For about the third time that nice, I came to a dead end. Frustrated, I growled in my throat and spun around on one foot, nearly creaming myself by running into a medicine cart in the process.

Damnit! I thought tugging at my hair.

Where was he? I had to find him! I thought and was off again.

It came as if unbidden. An image of the parking lot at the back of the hospital, crowded large wooden palettes stacked on top of each other and various rubbish. I skidded on the tile floor in a U-turn and ran in the opposite direction like a madwoman on a rampage.

I threw open the doors to the exit, my heart thumping rapidly, and scanned the parking lot.

Jasper stood with his back to me, but I knew beyond a doubt that he was well aware of my presence from the way his body suddenly went rigid.

"Jasper!" my voice cracked.

"Stay the HELL away from me!" he growled. His hands curled into fists.

I was startled by his open hostility towards me but ignored him. He was scared.

"Tell me!" I demanded, keeping my distance. "Tell me what's wrong with you!"

"NO."

"Tell me!" I pleaded. "I have to know! I don't CARE that you're not human! I—"

Before I could finish my sentence I was pushed so forcefully that my back slammed up against the stone wall painfully. He looked down at me with his teeth bared, "Shut up!" he snarled. "You don't know what you ask. You don't realize what you're dealing with. This isn't a game, Alice."

"I'm through with games," I said through grit teeth. "You of all people should know that. The pain he exerted on my body was becoming unbearable. He growled in his throat. Blindly I plunged forward to convince him I could be trusted.

"I know that whatever It is is eating away at you. That you're in the darkness and that you haven't found whatever is it you're looking for every night. I've _seen _it! And I want to help you find it!"

If anything I said affected him even a little bit, he didn't let it show.

His eyes were wild now, cold and hard, as he leaned forward with agonizing slowness. His lips curled back and his teeth were bared. They were very sharp, I noted nervously. Instinctively, I froze when his cold breath caressed the area at the base of my throat.

"So you think that I'm lost in the darkness?" he hissed through his teeth so softly that I almost missed it. "Did it ever occur to you," he went on as he raked his teeth lightly over my throat, "that perhaps I am darkness itself?"

I felt my body tense up. It hadn't.

He was smug. He knew it too. He laughed harshly without any warmth and I felt a trickle of pain trail down my spine like tip of a razor.

"_I am that darkness,"_ he whispered in my ear. "It and I have become one. There is no going back."

He was very close to me now and I felt myself growing dizzy. Becoming numb with the scent of sweetness.

Then an image of him huddling alone in the dark, searching, flashed into my mind. His eyes were darker than ever. I stumbled and broke the surface of his spell, shattering it.

A sense of calm resignation spread throughout my body and I straightened up. Startled by the sudden confidence that he sensed in my demeanor, Jasper yanked his head back. He piercing black eyes were widen and searching. Alert and confused.

"But it wasn't always like that, was it? You weren't always in the darkness." I reminded him. "Does it scare you to see what's happened?"

He let of me as if I were on fire and I had burned him. He stepped back, stunned. "What?"

"Does who you've become frighten you, Jasper?" I asked softly and stepped forward, backing him up into the stack of palates.

Jasper shook his head in blatant disbelief, his jaw hard. He didn't say anything.

"Were you ALWAYS like this? It might be too late to go back but it is never to late to _change._ Did you always kill people like you did Christian?" I asked and watched sadly at the look of pain and horror written in his eyes. Determined, I struck.

"TELL ME!"

He stared at me, trembling with the tremendous effort not to run away. I wanted very much to end the silence and break the glaring contest we were having. Finally I did. Not that it helped the silence though. I could tell that he was still glaring at me. He was staring holes into my head, for God's sake.

But behind that I got the distinct feeling he was watching me, contemplating me, trying to figure me out. Maybe he was deciding whether or not to tell me about It, I hoped.

I was still hoping desperately when he started talking.

"I never mean for you to ever see me like this," he said quietly. Slowly I looked up and found that he had moved over to sit on one of the wooden palettes that rested at the top of the pile.

He had moved with quiet and inhuman speed.

"I'm listening," I said delicately and settled down against the wall across from him like a child eager for story time.

But this was no story about faeries and castles where the princess lived happily ever after with her prince in a castle by the forest.

And then he finally unraveled the fabric of his troubles to me.

"You were right when you said it earlier. I'm not," he paused. "I'm not _human,_ anymore. What I've become is much worse. I can't eat. I can't sleep. My nature refuses to allow it. The irresistible urge to hunt and kill," he spat in disgust. "IT is everything that is evil—basically it is who I've become."

What?

"I still don't—"

"We have been called 'Children of the Night'," he said swiftly, cutting me off. His black eyes glittered, regarding me. Willing me to figure it out.

I frowned. Where had I heard that before? Children of the Night…Children of the…

My eyes widened, "Children of the Night," I suddenly understood.

An image flashed in my mind. The dream I had the day I had first seen him in school replayed itself to me. The delicate pink butterfly, the look of fierce yearning on face as its wings open and folded gently in the middle of his palm. And the disappointment when it burst into little red pieces before his eyes. They had not been petals.

_Blood…_I realized with a sinking heart.

_"I won't give in to It! So I can be…" his gaze faltered. "So I can be…good." _

The insatiable desire to kill…to feed was overwhelming, then. He couldn't help but desire it. And although it was a frightening thought, I could only feel sad. Because even if this was who he had become, it was not who he wanted to be.

"A vampire."

His gaze flickered at the moon, away from me.

"I can't begin to imagine…" I said softly.

"_Exactly_. Do you understand now why it is so important that you stop talking to me and following me around everyday? Has it finally dawned on you that I was never meant to stand by your side? Do you really want to make me responsible for your death? Has it hit you yet that what you do, befriending a creature that could never be a friend by nature is unwise?" he said in anguish.

"Because every second that you talk to me, every stupid comment you make, every time you dance…dear _god_!" he raked his fingers through his hair in sheer frustration and turned away from me quickly, "Every second is another chance for the monster in me to take what It wants the _most_ from you. And I can assure you, Alice…it is NOT your love. "

We both sat there, the two of us, just quietly occupying space in the parking lot at night beneath the moon.

There were no words for him to say.

He turned to leave.

"So It doesn't want my love. It wants my blood."

It was a statement. As simple as that.

"But I don't care about It. What I decide to do is my decision and no one's business. What I want is my business. And I want to know…what do _you_ want the most from me?"

He stopped, "I have no right to say. I can ask nothing of you. I WILL not ask nothing of you, Alice."

"Why not?" I stood up and drew myself to my full height, furious. "Why on earth _can't _you, Jasper Whitlock!"

LORD did I want to rattle him good! What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he see? I really didn't know why on earth our silent "conversations" were more friendly than our actual conversations (ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS WE'VE HAD:2, by the way). Why did we always have to fight whenever we did manage to talk?

He was suddenly before me, his black eyes blazing, "I CAN'T! I can't ever risk being with you. Do you know why I can't be by your side as a companion? Why I can never—LOVE you? Do you know why I've been forced to endure a life of darkness forever? Because I was _fool_ enough to think I could LOVE the woman who came to make me like this! The woman I thought I loved BIT me! The slightest mistakes have horrific consequences! THIS is a mistake I_ won't_ make!"

My breath was caught in my throat. My God, we were talking about love. He was talking about loving me!

"You gonna bite me any day soon, Jasper?" I snapped in attempt to mask my pain, now that I knew Jasper had once loved another woman. Someone else other than me. "Do you _want _to bite me, honestly and sincerely?"

"I don't want to, but I WILL. Eventually I'm going to give in. Alice, I'm just barely managing to hold onto the urge to kill you right now. What is to stop me from hurting you if you and I were to spend more time together?" he allowed a look of pain to crease his handsome face.

I wasn't sure if he was talking about love or just being by my side in general. As friends? As someone to talk to? But just the bare notion of being with me, was a threat enough.

It was so damn unfair.

He didn't want to hurt me. He didn't want to bite me. The thought touched me and at the same time I felt myself acting very selfishly for the first time. I'm not normally like that, but for once I didn't care that I was pretty much digging my own grave.

I wanted to be with him. I sincerely cared for him and the past month or so without him had been absolute torture. It saddened me that I couldn't talk to him or be near him without nearly breaking the control he had on his thirst (it was so weird thinking about it! A vampire, the man that I cared for—was in love with, wanted _my _blood!). How on earth could I possibly deal with never talking to him again? Surely the looming threat of death was a small price to pay for something I more than anything?

My mother had always said I could be as stubborn as a donkey. This was one of those times. "Do you want to be with me?"

"I told you, I cannot allow--,"

"I mean as a _friend _if you wanted to!"

"I'm not the kind of person you should be getting involved with in any way," he muttered darkly. "Has it even registered itself in your mind that I'm a vampire? That I could easily snap your neck in two if I were to let my guard down for one second?"

Suddenly he was standing next to the large stack of wooden palettes. As easily as if lifting a baby, he lifted the biggest and dirtiest crate (which must have weighed 100-some pounds, mind) with one hand. Then with blinding speed and he flung the crate like a dirty rag across the parking lot and into an abandoned car nearby, probably to demonstrate his abnormal strength.

The windshield of the car shattered into a dozen pieces. The glittering debris littered the ground tragically.

I was beside myself with awe. I'm pretty sure that you know exactly what I'm talking about when I say this, Bella. The precise amount of amazement that went through my mind in those few seconds was immeasurable.

The fact of the matter was that he was trying to scare me. The look of tortured expectation on his face was as plain as day.

But there was no way I was going to let him get to me like that.

I cleared my throat and straightened up, "If you're so afraid of bringing me into the darkness then when don't you just step into the light?" I asked him inquisitively.

This comment puzzled him for reasons I still can't comprehend. Was the notion of change so unheard of? So impossible to grasp?

"Well?"

Instead of the answer that I had been hoping for, the 'Yes ma'am I'd _like_ to', he said, "I could never...there is no light left for me."

"What? There's no light left for you or are you just afraid to see it?" I retorted. "If you don't like me, all you have to do is say so, yknow!"

He was silent then, plotting his next move no doubt.

What he said next floored me.

"You're right...I don't think I like you like that, Alice," he replied softly.

"Wh-What?"

He stared me straight in the eye and repeated himself, "I don't like you in that manner, Alice."

I bit my lip hard. What he said hurt me deeply. Of course it _had_ occurred to me many times that he might not feel the way about me as I did about him. But it didn't ease the pain that I felt when he said those words to me.

Embarrassingly enough my attempts at coping with the situation immediately manifested itself.

The first strategy, the card I never thought I'd catch myself playing, was denial.

"You're...You're lying to me," I choked.

"Am I?" he replied coolly, looking like he believed it himself completely and utterly, the jerk.

He was definitely a man of great confidence. This was definitely the man that he had been before he was bitten. Before darkness had taken toll on his soul. I had wanted to see it. Now I was not as happy about it as I thought I would be.

I closed my eyes. Maybe if I opened them he would be smiling at me. Maybe this would all be a bad dream, I thought anxiously. Then he would look at me blankly as usual and tell me it was a joke. Just a joke and that sort of remark was too cold for even him to utter.

Of course it didn't work.

He continued to stare at me, a book without words.

The ray of hope that had once shined on me was torn from my soul at that moment.

I felt like a bundle of nerves.

"Damn straight! Being a vampire don't stop me from liking you, first off. I hope you know that!" I snarled.

"It should," he bit back.

"Well, sweetie, it don't! Let me tell you a little secret!" I leaned in so he would hear it.

"You're not the only…_freak_ in this joint, pal. I see things."

"Alice—" he started.

"No!" I cut him off and bit back a sob. Oh no. I was crying now. Not again. I lifted my head, to bring about an air of cool pride, "Do you know that? And do you know what I see right now? I see me walking away from you because I _know_ you're lying but I don't know why you're not even willing to see the truth! Why you're not…you're not willing to TRY!" I gasped.

He didn't know what to say. What could he say?

I wanted to make him understand. Realize that I didn't care about the threat that he posed to me. I wanted him to know that we all fell into the darkness at some point and if I did too by being with him, I didn't care. And that it was in every one of us, even people who weren't vampires.

But he obviously wasn't going to get it. He couldn't understand that I was willing to risk anything for him. What was it going to TAKE to make him get it?

Why was it so hard for him to realize that?

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to scream at him.

To try to understand…to just try.

I _would not_ reduce myself to a silly pile of emotions before his steadfast determination to give up on me.

I didn't know what to do anymore. There was nothing if he wouldn't try.

I turned around slowly and then looked at him over my shoulder, "Jasper, there's _nothing_ wrong with being afraid of the dark. But if you're afraid of seeing the light, then there really ISN'T any hope for you!" I hissed, furious.

Jasper frowned, "Alice…please. Don't cry. This is really how things should be. What I'm doing now is the right thing."

I grit my teeth. This was how it should be? That jerk…that inconsiderate…!

"News flash," I snapped. "Evil and the thirst of a vampire such as yourself isn't the only darkness on the face of the earth. I hope you're glad you've just shown me that. All _I_ see is darkness now," I looked down my nose at his face, taut with tension and pain.

"Because frankly? You were _my_ light. You just couldn't see it."

Then I walked away from him, stepping with grace and confidence as best as I could.

Inside my world was already crumbling to pieces around me. The pieces bit into my feet with each step I took away from him.

I was making my way up the stairs to the 2nd floor when he suddenly appeared in front of me. Him with his speed!

"Wait!"

"What?" I jumped, startled and shot him a look of pure venom.

My chances of falling down the stairs were great, I noted with a nervous glance behind me.

"I would never let you fall," he started. When I glared at him again he sighed.

"Okay. You're…you're right. I'm sorry. I really _do_ fear it. I still don't know the other side of me and frankly it terrifies the living daylight out of me. It's not something that I'd ever want to expose you to."

I saluted him, "Well congratulations, sir. I'm pretty sure you don't have to worry 'bout none of that no more." Then I brushed past him and continued to climb.

He followed me and continued to persist.

"I thought I could do this. But after not seeing you since that last day in school I realized it wasn't the only thing I couldn't stand."

He was in front of me again. I stared at him, transfixed, and leaned closer.

"_Please…believe me," _he pleaded quietly.

He was pulling me in. I realized that he was trying something on me again the moment my head began to hurt.

"Stop it!" I shook my head, swaying.

Instantly his hand was on my waist preventing me from tumbling backwards down the stairs. "I think I CAN change."

I froze.

What? Did he really..?

"I can try," he confirmed my thoughts, his jaw set with determination.

I wouldn't have believed it. Slowly a grin spread itself on my face.

"How?" I asked him.

Ha, good question. That threw him for a minute.

I stood there patiently.

Then he came to a decision. He might have been unsure about it but he held out his arm nonetheless, his lips pursing, "Let me show you."

Relief spread throughout my body and I laughed. I looked down at the arm he offered tentatively.

Obviously human contact was hard for him. I could understand.

I chirped and breezed past him. I skipped down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I felt the smile spread itself on my face and lifted my face to the moon happily, trapping the moonlight in my hair as I went down.

* * *

Yay! Another chapter done! I want to say thank you to all you readers out there who were so encouraging when I told you that I wouldn't be able to post for a while due to my finals. Let me say it's been great! So have the reviews. I have quite a number of new readers who read the story and loved it or couldn't stop reading. Welcome! Im so glad you're enjoying my story and hope that you will continue to read my story!

Other than that, I guess I really should mention that ive created a blog if you wanna check it out. It'll have my thoughts about the story's progress, my version of the characters, summaries and, if you're interested, you can check in to see how much closer im getting to finishing a chapter and such. Ill bet it'll definitely cut down the oodles of writing I do at the end of each chapter. Like this one. I took out A LOT of the author's note. I put it on the blog so check it out to see more about chapter 6 about dark and light. So go look! Go go go! Just know that there are a few notes from my other story too. Hidden Power.

On another note, I need your opinion. Should I keep blabbing at the end or encourage you all to visit my blog for other info on the story? would you be too lazy to go to another page? (hey I kno some people like that besides myself, no offense. That's usually our excuse: "But it's so far awaaay! insert whine here)

Anyway, just click on my homepage and it'll take you straight to my writers' blog! Yup yup

Well you all write me back (hahaha review in other words) ill be waiting as I start up on ch8. Hopefully things will be happier in the story from here in the story!


	7. Signs of Hope

**--------------------------------------------------------------  
Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 7: Signs of Hope

"So where are we going?" I asked for the thirtieth time that night looking around anxiously.

I was expecting the usual 'wait and see' but he surprised me when he said quietly, "I think you might know."

As far as I was concerned we have never really been anywhere alone unless you counted the many corridors of the hospital. Not exactly the most romantic getaway, if you know what I mean. So this threw me.

"What?" I asked puzzled.

I could hardly believe he was leading me somewhere.

Just the two of us, I thought dreamily and felt my heart soared with happiness.

My mind was at war with the rest of me, though. Every instinct in my brain screamed at me, telling me to go back and that what I was doing (allowing a vampire to lure me alone into the woods behind the hospital) was going to land me in the mortuary. I remembered how close I had come to being bitten by him. I ignored those instincts and galloped alongside him as he moved with unearthly grace. His feet never made a sound as he forged ahead. My feet, on the other hand, stepped on dry leaves and sticks leaving a racket in my wake. My heart thudded in my chest to its own beat and I winced in pain.

"You can see the future, can't you?" he said with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

His reply brought me back to reality and I shook myself out of my reverie. He remembered me talking about that.

"You don't believe me?" I challenged. "I can bet you that you're gonna find a big surprise tonight!"

I was lying. So sue me.

He looked away quickly to hide his face.

"No," he muttered sullenly.

"Yeah right you big liar!" I piped up. He didn't look back at me so I danced around to see the look on his face. He stared right back at me, curious.

"Alright so I don't _really_ see things like visions. It's mostly just that I can interpret and predict better than most people. Just really good at predicting outcomes, I think. I'd be _damned_ if I could see the future!" I giggled at the thought.

Boy would that be funny, I thought, my eyes twinkling gleefully.

"What about you? Any interesting abilities as a vampire?" I asked.

"No."

"Come on!" I said and circled him where he stood silently. "Isn't there some good in all things?"

"Are you referring to the notion of yin and yang?" he asked me wryly.

"Er…" not really. "I guess. I mean can you move objects with your mind? Speak mind to mind? Read em? Move place to place magically? See the future?" I bit my lip, raised my fingers to my temples, and crossed my eyes in an attempt at a gypsy impression. My impressions usually suck.

But I was pleased it had an impact on him.

Jasper snorted. I laughed at him.

"Laugh! It's a good change for YOU and I certainly need the laughs. I ain't gonna beat you senseless if you laugh!" I encouraged him twirling around him.

I caught a weird look on his face. He stared at me as if I might be off my rocker. I put my hands on my hip and laughed sheepishly.

Okay so I was nervous. Didn't people act like fools when they were nervous? When they were in love? I had the greatest urge to dispel the awkward atmosphere around us and I didn't know how I was going to do it. I hated that. I peered into his blank face. He stared back at me sourly.

"You're shy, aren't you?" I smiled and bit my lip.

He didn't like that.

Jasper grunted and strode past me with a sigh, "I don't have time for this," he muttered as he got farther away from me.

"Hey! Hey wait up! I was only kidding!"

Silence.

I navigated my way through the brush of grass and weeds.

"Jasper?"

He didn't answer me and I looked around me. He was nowhere to be seen and I knew I wouldn't hear him if he tried to walk up on me. Not with the way he could move through the woods. With the grace of a tiger, a predator. If he was planning to spring an attack on me now I was rabbit meat for sure.

I started to hiccup and my gaze darted to every corner of the forest that was in rance of my sight.

I shifted from foot to foot nervously and rubbed my arms where goosebumps were currently dancing up and down my skin. The only sounds of the forest were the croaks and calls of various animals around me. I let out another hiccup. Never before had I been more aware at that time that I was in the middle of a forest with a blood-drinking vampire alone in the dark at night.

I was suddenly scared shitless. I always hiccupped when I was freaked out.

God, I'd been an idiot. I knew that already.

Desperately I tried to find him one last time.

"Aw come on Jasper," I called out to him as I put on a joking tone. "Really, where (hiccup) did you—Oh. Wow!"

I gaped in awe at the open area before me and the fear that had been tricking down my spine stopped. (The hiccups, annoyingly enough, didn't.)

It was a wide-open space in the forest. I was up to my hips in tall green grass that stretched out in a wide arch before us about 3 acres. Not too far off was a small pond about the size of a small house. The water seemed to cast an eerie glow on our faces as the moon reflected the surface of the water. And the sky. I gaped in awe. The sky blazed with thousands and thousands of beautiful stars, each winking down at us.

It was the place that I had seen in my dreams. Had he known…?

"Do you like it?" his voice came from not far behind me where his dark eyes regarded me blankly.

"Wow, this place is (hiccup) gorgeous, Jasper!" I breathed and stared.

By the time I had come back to reality I saw that he was already gracefully weaving through the tall grass. I followed him.

Then I realized that he had taken off his hospital shirt blushed. Like a true gentleman he fanned his hospital shirt out on the ground and motioned me forward, "Please."

Beaming with happiness I skipped forward, slid on the wet dirt, and plopped myself onto the shirt. A thick streak of mud ran up my skirt. I hiccupped and gazed down at the mud forlornly.

Jasper's lips twitched into small smile, "Well, clearly that was pointless," he said derisively.

I felt a trill of excitement shoot through me and suddenly the hiccups stopped.

"You just smiled!" I cried and just pointed with glee. Clearly jumping up would be a big mistake, seeing as I'd slipped on my down the first time.

The smile immediately disappeared when he realized I was right. He scowled and spoiled the mood.

To see him smile, was amazing. It was such a _human _gesture. He had been transformed from a man with a dark countenance to someone who was impossibly handsome and bright. I wanted him to open up to me life a sunflower. To express himself and be honest with me. It was amazing that the smallest, simplest gesture was enough to make me so happy. Was it because I was a girl and the fact that Jasper was happy was enough to make me feel so wonderful?

And then I suddenly realized that to make him happy, to make him laugh and see him smile without a blemish of worry about being a vampire, was everything that I would every want for as long as I existed.

I leaned back on his hospital shirt and craned my head up absurdly high (he was so darn _tall),_ "Smile at me again?" I pleaded.

He didn't reply. Darn. I tried again.

"For me?" I asked, batting my eyelashes at him outrageously flirtatious. Something had to make him laugh.

I wanted it to be me.

Jasper let out something between a forced cough and a sneeze that sounded suspiciously like he was trying to hold in a laugh. Aw, damn him.

I let out a whoop of joy and turned my face up to the stars, "He laughed! He laughed at me!" I sang.

"I did no such thing," he said in a strangled voice.

"You tried not to but it didn't completely work," I pointed out. Then I patted the ground besides me and drew my long white skirts onto my lap. "Sit with me."

Maybe he did it to annoy me but he did the exact opposite. When I looked at him again he was standing a ways away at the other side of the pond between a grove of paper trees.

"I would rather not," he said stiffly.

Whatever, then.

I glowered and then fell back into the ground with my long hair fanned out behind me on his jacket. Who cared about getting dirty.

Silence filled the air. I shifted around on the ground uncomfortably. I brought myself around so that my face was leaning over the edge of the pool. I trailed my fingers gently across its surface and was strongly reminded of the first time that I had ever seen him.

The way that I had woken up with the sounds of his singing in my ears. I still wondered every now and then, 'What had he been singing?' As far as I knew I still had no idea. It was like nothing that I had ever heard before. It was much more pleasing than the silence that currently filled the air.

I began to sing.

"_You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…" _

"Why are you singing?" Jasper's voice broke through my song and I looked up to find that he was crouched in front of me now. I smiled at him, and shrugged.

"You don't like it?" I sang a little more and then stopped. I dipped my fingers into the cool water, "Someone once sang to me. I mean, I don't think he meant to, but it…it made me really happy! Maybe it can make you happy in some way too."

I saw him move in my peripheral view, "Why would that be?"

I blushed, "Well I-I want you to be happy."

He sighed, "Alice, what is happiness without hope?"

I jerked my head to him, "Are you going to go on about how being a vampire thing means you can never be happy again?" I demanded. I hated the way he would never let me try to cheer him up. "Well, please. Don't. Let's just pretend that none of that matters tonight."

At his attempt to assert otherwise I raised a finger. He started. "Okay, I KNOW it does, but let's just pretend. Make believe."

He didn't respond.

"Happiness will bring you a piece of mind. Isn't that nice? Even vampires are allowed to have a piece of mind, Jasper. To me, it's kind of like a sign that…somehow, everything will be alright. That there's someone who cares for you and that God is still with you. There are signs everywhere."

"Oh _really."_

I flicked a bug off my arm and missed. It went flying anyway.

Okay so he obviously didn't believe me. Fine, be like that! I could completely hear him rolling his eyes.

"Yeah there's…" I stop and glared at him. Geeze _Louise_ I was trying to be serious! "Now don't you look at me like that, I mean it!"

I looked around to prove it to him and caught sight of the moon looming ahead. My glare softened. The moon was a sign too, an intimate one.

"There's the sun," I offered instead. "The sun is a sign for a new day. A fresh start. Rebirth." Then I brightened considerably when he moved closer to me as if just the mere thought of rebirth was tempting him. He was no longer on the opposite end of the pool from me. No, now he was crouched a small distance away from where I was sprawled out on his shirt,"Hey now, that there's an idea! Why don't we set the sun on you, Jasper!"

Jasper frowned as if the thought sent him great displeasure, "You would set the sun on me?"

"Sure!" I chirped. I realized too late what setting the sun on him might sound like. Vampires burned didn't they? "OH! No no! I mean I want you to be able to start new. To shed some light on the darkness and be reborn, yknow?"

He scowled and looked at his reflection in the pool in the water. Did he like what he saw?

"Is it really so simple?" he said softly and reached out for something that was out of his grasp.

"As simple as you wanna make it!" I exclaimed.

He sighed and looked up at the stars sadly, "How can I change so easily when something like that goes against my very nature? How to defeat the thirst? The longing to feel the blood run between my lips?"

I paused and plucked at a piece of grasses that peeked out from the mud. I quoted a line from a book I'd read most recently: "_…The Dark isn't evil, it's just dark. The choice between being good and bad isn't a one-time-only choice between black and white. It's a choice that people make every day, every minute. We choose to be good."_

I looked up and saw that he was looking at me with a most peculiar expression on his face. One of disbelief maybe?

"How do you change who you are?"

"Change isn't immediate, remember. It might be hard and you might make mistakes, but that's why it's so amazing. Because it might seem near impossible. It comes in baby steps little by little."

Speaking of baby steps, I thought and scooched my hips over on the ground a little closer to him. Just a little.

"Just like a flower in bloom," I went on as if I hadn't moved. Hopefully he hadn't seen me.

"What makes you think I can change? I can barely control the thirst inside me," he scooched a little away.

Damn, he _had_ seen me.

"Hey," I crooned. "Humans tame dogs every day! Humans are a species too!" I said and kept scooting right along like an affectionate little inchworm.

"Do I look like a _dog_ to you, Alice?" he narrowed his eyes at me.

I let out a yelp and rolled onto my back when a rock dug into my bottom in mid-scooch. Shit!

"No," I gasped and rubbed my hip gingerly. "You kinna remind me of a lion. You're a leoline sorta fella."

This gave him something to think about. I wasn't sure what but I had a feeling that I was bit by bit getting through to him. _VERY_ small bits.

Then again progress was progress wan' it?

I glared at the rock that had ruined my scooting efforts and dug it into the ground in a sort of twisted revenge.

"What about the stars?" he asked me thoughtfully.

Satisfied I piled a mound of dirt on the darn thing and then looked up at the stars for maybe the tenth time that night. They twinkled down at me.

"The stars? What about them?"

"Do they mean something too? Some sign?"

So maybe he was humoring me. Maybe he believed me. There was just something so sad about someone would cling to anything that might give him even the smallest bit of hope for something he might never have.

I would make sure that he would have his freedom.

I smiled and curled my fingers around my hair. This one I knew. "For every star out there is a little bit that someone cares for you."

And many of the stars up there were mine...

He rolled over onto is elbow and gave me a look, "Are you lying to me now to make me feel better? I don't need to be comforted. Normally it is the gentleman who should be comforting the lady."

I burst out laughing at this. "Er…I don't think we have the right to be thinking about what is normal, if you know what I mean, Jasper Whitlock!"

I was surprised when he jumped to his feet. I craned my head up towards him in question. "Do you have no tact?" he snapped angrily. "If I really bother you so much why don't you just leave? I'd really appreciate it much better than your pity!"

Okay so he thought I pitied him. Did he really think that I was talking about only him? I would be lying if I said that this didn't affect me at all. To be honest, and I don't know why, it hurt me. That he couldn't realize it. I rolled over so that my back was to him so he wouldn't see it.

I ignored him. "Is THAT what you think? That I pity you?"

He did and his incredulous snort was all I needed to confirm this.

"Well I don't. Do you really think I don't know what it's like to be different? That I wouldn't hate pity too? Do you think my heart condition makes my life the same as any other girl's?"

"It's a natural disease," he asserted.

"YEAH," I snapped. "Well SO'S hunger! My heart prevents me from seeing my friends everyday. I can't go to school. I barely last a month let alone a few DAYS in school before my damn heart gives out from the least bit of stress that thousands of girls go through every day!" I rambled on, tears starting to cloud my vision. Angrily I fisted them away. My voice was starting to get all squeaky and high pitched like it did when I became upset. "I live in a hospital where people think I can't think for myself."

I yelled. "I HATE it! I _hate_ being weak."

A weight fell on my shoulder lightly like the wings of a butterfly. With tears still in my eyes, I rolled over, startled. He wasn't anywhere near me. He had retreated once again to the other side of the pool of water and was looking over at me sadly from where he sat in the grass.

"You're still you, Alice."

"You are too," I retorted.

"Life holds so much for you yet," he shot back.

I stabbed my finger in the air, "No! _Oh,_ no. Even THAT is denied. I can only watch life from afar from my hospital room and think, 'Well theythink I'm too weak. Can't get involved now. Might get a heart attack, now!' And if _that_'s not bad enough, there's the fact that I'm DYING."

At his look of horror I nodded sardonically, "You heard me. My life's been literally cut in two! I won't live long enough to get married. I can't have kids and wonder whether or not he'll look like his daddy when he gets older. Nope. None of that. And it _sucks_."

Finally he said, "I'm sorry. I guess to some degree we're NOT normal."

I sniffled, "Damn straight! You remember that. I'm right with you. Just like the moon, we un-normal people got to stick together!"

He cocked his head, intrigued, "What? What about the moon?"

"Another sign." I pointed up at the moon in the sky. "The moon is a sign of true companionship. She exists side by side with the sun even during the day when you can't see her too well. She's always there. Always by your side."

"Always…" he whispered. His face had taken on a wistful expression. "But I'll never be so close to you."

"You were there the other night, weren't you? When I was crying my eyes out? You don't have a problem with huggin' me before, did you? You being here now ain't all that bad, now is it?"

"It is…tolerable. But it's still difficult."

I gaped, "What?"

"Alice, you don't realize it but I can smell you from here. It makes me thirsty."

I shrieked in horror and grabbed fistfuls of my skirt to sniff it. He flinched.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…"

"I've smelled bad all this time and you never said anything to me?"

He laughed, "No, you smell delicious." Then he stopped laughing. "Pardon—"

"Compliment accepted," I interrupted, immensely relieved. I swung myself around on the ground and lowered my feet in the shallow water. "SO…I'm curious. What do I smell like? Chocolate? Strawberries? Flowers?"

"Actually, you smell like warm vanilla."

I felt my heart turn over in my chest and beamed with pleasure.

"That counts as an interesting vampire trait." He seemed to think otherwise. No comment.

"So do you have any other interesting…powers as a vampire?" I pressed.

He gave way, "You consider the ability to smell people better than others a good thing? That is not always the case," he wrinkled his nose with distaste and I sorta figured the guy had a good point.

Not everyone smelled like vanilla, I guess.

"I can tell that you're happy right now. I know that a few minutes ago you were angry and in pain. I always know how you're feeling. I always know how the young man currently pacing in the hospital is feeling. If I wanted to, I could make him feel relaxed instead of worried without saying a word."

I had the feeling that he was talking about Edward. I perked up momentarily distracted. Whoa, Edward was pacing?

So he could hear that? I looked at him curiously. He looked right back at me.

"So you can screw with people's emotions?" I said in an angry voice. Beneath the surface I was actually happy.

A test.

He caught it.

Jasper pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow, "Screwing with emotions is an obtuse way of putting it, but unfortunately accurate."

I frowned. Had he tried it on me?

Instantaneously, he picked up my suspicion like a bloodhound and quickly added, "I've tried it on you many times but I think you're immune to such tactics. Your mind is much stronger than others. I can't begin to count the number of times that I've attempted to make you feel disinterested when you were first pursuing me."

It dawned on me then and I laughed haughtily, "So _you're _the reason behind the string of annoying string of headaches!"

He had the grace to look chastened, "I'm sorry. I _was_ trying my best."

I grinned and swished my feet around for good measure, "I guess it's good for me that I don't back down then, huh?"

He considered me for a moment solemnly sitting there with my feet swooshing through the water giddily, "Yes…it _is_ a good thing you're so stubborn."

I smirked with satisfaction rolling deep in my stomach.

"What about Edward? He got any special…powers?"

He blinked, every bit the confused vampire, "Excuse me?"

I flapped my hand impatiently and lifted my skirts up to my thighs. With a plop I stepped into the pool and waded around, "Edward. The one you were fighting with tonight."

I looked up at him beneath my eyelashes to watch for his reaction. What _did_ he think of Edward?

His reaction, upon realizing whom I was talking about, was evident in the way that his jaw suddenly grew taut and his eyes flashed.

Why? I wondered.

"Do you…dislike Edward? I mean, that whole thing where he yelled at you tonight…he meant well by it, didn't he?" I asked cautiously.

"He is just…" he started. I almost laughed when I realized that his unconscious death grip on a cluster of California grass had uprooted a chunk of earth the size of a small boulder. Yup, roots and all. That was vampire strength for you.

Weirder still, I accepted it immediately like a flower to water.

"Whoa," I pointed to the poor piece of the ground he'd pulled up as easy as a turnip. "Take it easy there, pal."

He looked down in astonishment. Carelessly he tossed the large clump of California grass over my head. I watched it go up and up and up.

Geeze, I blinked.

It fell with a dull thud on the other side of the glade. Amazing.

Quickly I turned back and got back to the point, "Aw, don't hate 'im! He's a nice guy! Really! He bought that mirror for me to dance in and…and.." I struggled for a good excuse and then gave up. "Don't hate him." I added.

Jasper leaned backwards onto his elbow. He was careful of where he put his hands now, I noted with some amusement. "I don't hate him."

I frowned and twirled around in the water, confused, "Wait. What?"

"I HATE the control that he has over it. How easily he can stroll the halls of that hospital." He turned his head in the direction of the hospital. I couldn't see the building through the trees but I knew surely, he could. "I don't even have a shred of that kind of control."

Aha! "So you envy Edward Cullen?"

"No," he said it scornfully.

I glided around in the water grinning, careful to keep my back to him. Ha, he still had a sense of male pride even if he wasn't human!

"What are you so amused about?" his voice wafted over to me and I could have sworn I'd stepped on something slimy.

"So what's he do?" I asked when I realized with a twitch he'd surreptitiously avoided my question.

"Edward?" he was frowning again. "Telepath."

I whipped around, forgetting to hold up my skirts and stepped on the squishy thing in the water again. "What! He reads-He reads MINDS?"

Oh my god, how many times had I thought embarrassing things around him? Had it heard it all? Oh my goodness, what on _earth_ had he overheard me thinking without me knowing?

Then I remembered the look of horror and annoyance that had flashed on his face when I'd first met him. The questions that he had answered when I had never asked any. The way he had easily curtailed my anger at times by saying just the things to calm me down.

He had accidentally answered my thoughts instead of my words! A rookie mistake! I burst out laughing and relayed this to Jasper who smirked when he found out.

"I guess there's so much to learn, isn't there?" I sighed and started to thrust my hands into the water to search for the squishy object that I had stepped on twice now.

"Are you sure that this is something that you would even want to risk learning something like that?" he asked tentatively.

To my delight the object was a little green frog. I picked it up and brought it up to my face in greeting. It croaked at me sullenly as I said with steadfast determination ringing in every word.

"Yes, Jasper. I do."

So we sat there for the next few minutes…actually I don't know how long it was, I lost track of time…not saying anything to each other. Me, wading around in the small pool eagerly looking for more little friends and Jasper reclining on the soft dirt closest to the water humming the song that I had been singing earlier. It was one of those silences that you wouldn't disrupt because you knew that it just felt right.

And then I noticed the bright sliver of gold peeking out over the trees and panicked.

He immediately noticed the change in the atmosphere and bolted up from where he sat, "What's…"

"Oh my GOD!"

"What is it!" he barked, his eyes wide with alarm.

"We have to GO! NOW!" I took his jacket off the ground and tossed it to him.

He ran until he was in front of me and gripped my shoulders, "Alice what is going on?"

"The sun! Run! I'll see you…"

His face twisted into a weird expression before he hung his head and hunched his shoulders in.

"What?" I shrilled. "You're going to burn and…and explode iinto a thousand little…." I paused and frowned when I realized his was shaking with repressed laughter. "Are you?"

He shook his head furiously. His shoulders still quaking with silent laughter he was trying to hold back, "I can…I can assure you that I won't burn, Alice."

I stepped back from him feeling like an idiot. So vampires didn't burn? I really _didn't_ know much about them. I was going to have to brush up on my vampire studies if I didn't want to make an idiot out of myself again. The idiot didn't stop laughing. Not that I wasn't happy for him. I was still sort of embarrassed as you might guess.

"Does anything…happen?" I asked faintly.

He finally stopped laughing and took a deep breath. His face was troubled and reluctant, "Yes. I can…I can show you."

He was taking a chance. I couldn't have been more surprised or impressed. A feeling of pride broke out on his face when he tasted this in the atmosphere. He was proud of himself too.

"Are you sure? You don't have to if you—"

"No," he cut though and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I want you to see. To see both sides of

me."

I smiled, "Okay then, Mr. Whitlock. Let's have it then!"

I moved around the glade until I found a comfortable spot near a brush of California grass. He stood there and continued to hum as the sun slowly made its way into the sky. I sat calmy in the shadows of his silhouette watching him face the sunrise with a sort of resigned courage. His long golden hair whipped in the wind behind him and still he stood there as the sun slowly ascended into the sky.

_You are my sunshine…my only sunshine…when you're not happy…my skies are gray…_

I can't say when I started to see the changes in his skin. But when he turned to me, sparkling (actually sparkling) my eyes widened in awe. I smiled widely and laughed as his skin twinkled like the stars we had seen in the sky.

He was beautiful.

If I had to say, I think I would have said that the stars he showed me in his skin was a sign too. A sign that held a meaning in itself.

A sign of hope.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That took me a long time. It was all dialogue, but luckily I had it all planned out already. A lot of editing but I gotta say it came out pretty nice. I might have had a little too much fun in this chapter lol with all the singing and fooling around on Alice's part. She's nervous so she tends to act a little odd when she does that. Yknow how some people will try to make you laugh, make you smile or SOMETHING when things get awkward between two people? There you have it.

(btw, wasn't sure what she smells like. No one seems to know 0.0 but my guess would be vanilla. It's sweet and warm)

I guess this is point where Jasper starts to come out. He still won't get close to Alice. Like hold her hand or hug her without freaking out. At first he tries to stay calm and unaffected by her attentions but it doesn't really work. Alice is just too bright and cheerful of a person to let anything _ever_ get her down, including Jasper. It might be good for him because he totally needs it.

And then there's some people who might wonder where I got the quote. It's a fairly popular vampire series. One I LOVE to death (sighs happily). I love the Edward that the author created in that series too! He's so cool! Some might have recognized it. It's from Laurell K. Hamilton's The Killing Dance. I don't know if everyone reads the author's long Afterword but I found it was totally worth it for the quote at the end. It matched this story perfectly and I couldn't help but throw it in here.

Other than that, that's pretty much it for chapter material. I thought I'd let you all know too that I'll be leaving for California soon to spend some time with family over in San Jose. I'll be gone from the 1st of September to the 17th. So it might take a while for me to pop out another chapter. I'm sorry XD Hopefully the latest I can finish the next chapter for you all is the end of September. I'm having a few conflicts with the plot so I can't say for sure yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me!


	8. Tasting Atmospheres

**

* * *

Moonlight Melody **

Chapter 8: Tasting Atmospheres

_Snip snip snip!_ I finally set down the scissors on my crowded vanity and edged around the mirror to admire my handy work. Good lord it was short!

I had cut my hair as short as I dared to after last night. Now, instead of reaching down to my hips, my dark hair was almost as high as my earlobes.

So it wasn't in a very fashionable cut. Maybe it would be one day. But for Jasper…

_It was perfect!_

"Mary Alice," Edward commented wearily from where he was lounged in a chair beside my window, "I still don't understand why you're going to such lengths and yet all you've managed to do is turn your beautiful locks into something that looks like a bird nest."

"Why don't you read my mind?" I said under by breath.

He heard me.

"Is that really you what you want me to do?" I looked at him in the mirror behind me and he was frowning. "I thought that you were still angry with me because I've been reading your mind without you knowing."

Damn right! I sort of was. I knew that he would have never told me. It was a vampire thing. I got it.

But for goodness sake, could he have at least practiced some _restraint?_ Or tried to? For my sake? Annoyed, I shot him a glare, walked over to my hospital door and kicked it open.

"I _have_ no restraint yet," he protested. "I'm still trying. I've only been…'_this way' _for 2 years and I'm still not used to it. It's very difficult. Couldn't you be more understanding?"

What was there not to like about being able to read minds? I sauntered over to my closet of dresses that my mother had bought for me and started to rifle through them. They were all the latest fashions, I told myself, aware that my toes were curling with pure pleasure at the thought.

"Well I don't exactly _enjoy_ hearing the thoughts of horny teenagers in wheelchairs," he pointed out.

Dr. Carlisle and the hospital flirt chose that particular moment to walk past my door. Dr. Carlisle was in the process of pointing out something on the clipboard in his hand to the nurse, who was clearly eyeing _much_ more than the clipboard.

"Particularly the women," Edward added with disgust.

Then he realized that the horny teenagers part might have been a tad bit inappropriate and started to apologize. When I cut him off he turned and stared out the window in embarrassment.

"What a horrible shame," I cackled wickedly, not really thinking so. "Good luck dealing with that!" Then I held up a set of beaded necklaces in question. One red and one black.

He didn't need to turn to look at me before he answered warily, "The red. You know, your talking to me in your head is very…unsettling. Let's stop."

When I didn't answer his shoulder's drooped, "Please?"

I grinned broadly, Thank you. Then I skipped over to my vanity again twisting and twirling happily. It was already 5:39pm and I was preparing to see Jasper tonight. Talking mind to mind was fun! I gushed inwardly.

"It's very convenient, don't you think?" I chirped happily.

"Fun and convenient for whom," he muttered sullenly.

I stopped in mid sit, having been reminded of something by the color of the beads in my hand. Blood.

Edward stiffened and turned to me, "What's wrong Mary Alice?"

I have to ask this I have to ask this. It's for our safety. I have to ask this. I'm so sorry.

He me a look of annoyance and I giggled absurdly. Off when my shoe and out the window it went. Okay so I was annoying the crap out of him. Could you blame me? I was new at this and I'd bet the stuffed penguin in my bed, Morrie, that it would bring both him and me immense discomfort asking it.

"Listen, Edward, can I ask you something personal?"

"I suppose it depends on just how personal," he looked at me with a mixture of suspicion and concern.

_Vampire personal._

Yup. Discomfort. He stiffened immediately like a bunny in headlights.

"What's the worst thing about being around me?"

_As a vampire._

He took some time to answer my question. And when he did he carefully told me about how strong it was to resist the urge to drink blood once even a drop of it was spilled. How having heightened senses posed a certain problem and so forth.

When he was finished detailing all this to me I took my hand from my mouth where I'd been relentlessly biting my nails and stared at him.

"I had no idea," I said softly. I was going to have to be careful.

"_Very_ careful," he corrected. "I would never understand why you would risk your life to be with him. Why he won't just leave you as he should. The consequences if he were to slip up for just a moment…they're too horrible to even consider. I don't want to you do this, Alice. Please, think about what you're risking. You need. To. STOP. It's just…crazy."

He looked at me.

Implored me.

"I don't want to see you hurt."

I shook my head. I was too far gone by now. I was in too deep to climb out of the hole I'd climbed into.

"I mean, do you…_love_ him?"

I didn't hesitate one moment to answer. My eyes shone with absolute certainty, "Yes. Yes I do."

I knew he was confused and frustrated. Maybe a little sad.

"I'll never understand any of this. I don't know why you would risk so much to be with him. A human could never be anything like a mate for someone like us."

I shook my head again. I didn't know how I was going to explain it to him. It was just one of those things that no one _could_ ever explain to you. You had to figure it out yourself. And if you didn't you just had to keep trying to understand over and over until you finally got it. It was just a matter of knowing.

"Maybe someday you will understand," I said gently.

But I knew somehow that this wasn't a maybe. This was a certainty.

One day, Edward would get it completely.

Dr. Carlisle chose that moment to walk into the room rifling through some papers, "Mary Alice, I think you will be pleased to know that your—Good LORD, what on earth have you done to your hair!" his eyes were wide with horror.

I grinned with total glee. So an outrageous hairstyle had other advantages as well. I twirled around experimentally and ran my hands through my hair. "Do you like it?" I gushed and popped my hip in a mock seductive pose.

What wasn't there to love?

Edward smirked and answered for the now amused doctor, "Aside from the bird nest thing, words can _hardly_ describe."

"Is it…perhaps a special occasion?" Dr. Carlisle asked.

I heard him slip into something like an English accent. Very nice.

I plucked up a book, brandishing it at the two men happily, "I gotta look my best for tonight! I'm going to blow my date away!"

Edward wrinkled his nose at the book in my hand with great distaste, "Is that…?"

"Yup!" I trilled. "I'm gonna brush up on my knowledge 'bout ya'll. You'll see!"

Dr. Carlisle looked as if he wanted to say something but Edward cut him off with a wicked grin, "Well, I know Jasper will get a kick out of this!"

Unknowingly, I beamed with pleasure.

Boy would he ever!

* * *

It was 11:10pm that night and I was just turning page 132 of my vampire know-it guide when a shadow fell over me. 

This posed a problem seeing as it effectively blocked out the light I had been using for my reading. I looked up and saw Jasper looming over me.

"Hi Jasper!" I greeted him with a broad smile.

Get outta my light!

"What are you reading?" he asked curiously.

Gently I let him the book from my hands and looked at the cover of Bram Stoker's _Dracula._ On the cover was an ominous picture of an evil looking vampire bending over the neck of a redheaded woman with sharp fangs extended. Obviously the man was ready to feed.

Okay so it was cheesy, but it was education wasn't it?

He opened the book and started to flip through the pages. It took him only about 5 seconds before he closed the book with a snap.

I blinked. Did he read it?

There was an odd expression on his face.

Maybe he liked it!

I watched calmly as he slowly raised his left arm, containing my book.

Then I shrieked in horror when he threw Stoker out the window and far enough so that it probably flew to New York.

It was long gone. I'd never see that book again.

Without another word he turned and left my room.

"Hey buster!" I snapped and rushed after him, practically ready to pounce, "That was my _book_ you just threw out the window!"

He paused and then looked down at me with a look of contempt, "I've never in my life (and death) read a book that was so full of crap. Count Dracula is nothing more than a fake who drank fish blood for kicks."

I gaped at his retreating back before I burst out laughing. I ran to catch up with him.

"You're somethin' else yknow that?" I laughed and walked backwards in front of him to watch him.

"No."

"Well you still better buy me a book! Jasper Whitlock, that there book cost me 5 whole cents!"

"I'll do no such thing," he replied.

"You damn well BETTER!" I countered. Jasper rolled his eyes and I skipped to keep up with him.

I spent the next few minutes while we made our way out of the hospital in a feeble attempt to make conversation. When we were outside he steered to the right and started off down the sidewalk. He walked with a silent and confident purpose, I realized.

"Are we going somewhere?" I asked after we walked about a block away from the hospital.

"Yes."

"Is it very far?"

He shrugged and then looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Fairly."

I snorted, "Fairly as in?"

"Fairly far. A few miles."

"What? We're going to walk a few miles to get somewhere? Why don't we take a car or something?"

He looked at me with surprise, "Do you have a car?"

Okay so he had me there.

I blushed, "No," I admitted.

I'd kinna expected he would have one. How old was he? I asked him.

"20," he replied and looked away from me.

"No really! How old are you? Don't vampires grow old? How long have you _been_ a vampire?" I jumped around in front of him, trying to squeeze the answer out of him.

Jasper glared at me, "Don't ask me that. I don't want you thinking you're spending your time with an old man."

I grinned up at him cheerfully and without thinking about it patted him on the shoulder. The actions sent a big charge of electricity up my arms and made my hands fly to my hair, "Haha, I would never think that, old man! Tell me!"

He stepped around me so quickly that I found myself looking at the house behind us instead.

When I twisted around he said in an almost begrudging tone, "I'm 77 years old, Alice."

I rolled my eyes, "Aw, come on you ain't as old as I thought you would be! I thought maybe you'd be about as old as King Tut."

He blinked, "I told you that book that you were reading was crap."

I pouted. Fine. So bash Bram.

Then I realized how the sun had affected him and stopped. After a brief trip to Fantasy Land I came back down to earth and saw him still staring at me with an odd expression on his face.

"What?"

"You're…er…" he coughed. "Nevermind.

I brightened at the more human awkwardness with which he swiveled around. Had he picked up on my trip to Cloud Nine for a second there as I imagined the way he had sparkled in the sun like the most beautiful angel on God's green earth.

While I was off scheming a plan to make him more at ease around me, he was ignoring me as usual. It was a good thing too, seeing as I tended to talk to myself when I was planning something.

He took the time to look around the street around us where cars sat comfortably near their respective curbs.

"Now let's see," I muttered under my breath, looking at the houses around us. "I think a little dose of awkwardness and human embarrassment is good for his …hey! What are you doing?"

He had walked over to a black car across the street from us.

He hesitated for only a second before he smashed his fist through the window. The sound of breaking glass shattered the night and I let out a sharp yip at the glass that littered the street. Jasper didn't even glance at it.

Instead he reached through what had once been the window of a car and unlocked the door. The mannerism in which he did this, I found, was utterly mechanic.

"Oh my GODare you alright!" I shrilled hysterically and flew over to the car.

Out of nowhere he was suddenly holding the door open for me, motioning for me to get in. Ever the gentleman.

Ever the criminal gentleman.

"Please."

"Erm…are you sure we should be doing this?" I squeaked, throwing glances over my shoulder to make sure no potential nosy neighbors were peeking out of their windows.

"Are you going to get in the car or do I have to pick you up and put you in myself?" he ignored my protests.

"I mean, won't someone catch us?"

"We can walk if you'd rather be the perfect little saint," he went on.

I started to chew on the beads of my necklace uncertainly. I wasn't all to enthusiastic about walking so many miles. A few to Jasper was usually a lot.

Jasper rolled his eyes and gently pushed me in. I fell into the seat like a sack of potatoes because he was so strong!

"This is _stealing, _yknow!" I hissed at him and had to pull my face back quickly before I got my nose squished into my face permanently. He super-sped around to the other side, slid into the driver's seat and closed the door in less than 2 seconds.

"Nooo, this is called borrowing," he corrected me. "I'm going to _borrow _the car and will bring it back in the morning."

I raised an eyebrow.

Liar.

He returned my look upon sensing my suspicion, "You don't believe me? Feel free to walk to get out and walk," he offered.

I shut up.

Immediately he began to rummage around beneath the steering wheel.

"Do you even know how to drive?" I asked nervously as the car sputtered to life.

He didn't answer. With grim precision he backed the car up and careened down the street.

I'll swear it up and down that I thought I was going to have a heart attack from his driving alone.

I guess that would make him the man of my heart, I thought wryly and held on for dear life.

He drove like a madman and they said that I had problems!

"Wait! Wait! We're going too fast!" I yelled to him and gripped the door tightly.

He narrowed his eyes in frustration, "We're going too _slow,_" he muttered and then pressed harder on the lever by his feet.

I let out a squeal when I saw that we were heading for a hill and he was still going strong.

"Jasper! Jasper? We're gonna….We're gonna—OH MY LORD, JASPER!"

The next thing I knew we were flying off the hill and into the air.

In more modern terms, Bella, he and I were 'catching air'.

I let out a shrill scream and my hands immediately flew to my head as if by some chance, the speed at which we were moving might cause my poor head to roll off in the dust that we were leaving behind us.

When we finally landed on the ground the automobile skidded to a halt so abruptly that the end of the car swerved around until we were facing the hill again. Finally we stopped.

I let out a long whoosh of breath and fell back against the seat with my eyes wide. My heart was thudding in my chest. Trembling, I looked over at the driver beside me and immediately my heart rate sped up.

He was grinning!

Jasper's eyes were almost as wide as the smile on his face. As if he'd felt me looking at him, no doubt that he had, he glanced over at me and took in my wild-eyed expression and my hair, which had begun to stick out in an odd number of directions.

The sudden sound of laughter broke through the air and when I saw that he was laughing, actually LAUGHING freely out loud, a huge smile lit my face.

His laughter was loud, deep and heartfelt. I felt it fill the tiny car to the brim until the point that my heart expanded with the laughter and carried me away on wings.

How could I not be happy when he so obviously was?

I giggled madly, "You liked that?"

He turned to me, grinning ear from ear. Such a change. I could hardly recognize him! Was this really the man who had snarled at me the other night saying that there was really no hope for him to be happy? Who had condemned himself to the life of the eternal darkness? To the life of someone who was damned?

Well now _that_ was obviously crazy talk!

"That was….that was _exhilarating!" _he laughed.

I smiled at him tightly and he grinned right back at me. He was actually _grinning…_I couldn't have been more happy for him.

And although I wanted to run screaming from the car like a banshee at the thought of another flight off that hill behind us, I wanted to hear him laugh again…so much.

I don't believe I'm saying this I don't believe I'm saying this I don't believe I'm saying this, I thought anxiously.

"Doyouwannadoitagain?" I squeaked in a long rush of words.

His face lit up, "Really?"

God kill me now, "_Yeah!"_ I gushed with a fake smile on my face.

Jasper's smile faded, "You're scared but you're happy. I don't understand. You didn't like it?"

My eyes grew wide with embarrassment, "Stop reading me!" I admonished him. "It scared the be-JESUS out of me but I would do it again and again if it made you laugh like you just did."

He nodded solemnly, "We should stop then."

"No! If it makes you happy, then we should do it again!"

"You would do that to make me happy?" his lips gave the slightest of twitches.

I gulped, "Yes."

His face was devoid of any sort of expression as he silently turned the car around.

I twisted around in my seat and looked behind us in confusion.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"The beach," he responded.

Upon hearing this I perked up immensely, "The beach? We're not going to do that flying thing again?"

He shook his head, "I'm sure you will be happy when you hear that we will not be flying off the hill again."

I threw my head back against the seat rest and crowed into the night with relief, "THANK YOU GOD!" I look at him out of the corner of my eye and was mortified when he caught me looking at him. He was staring at me unabashedly without any regard to the road in front of him.

"But I do love the speed," he admitted quietly.

I turned a delicate shade of green, "Let's get to the beach. Soon?"

He nodded, his eyes twinkling, "We will."

I groaned and hung my head out the window being careful to hold onto my seatbelt as we took off again.

When we finally managed to make to the beach I was gasping for air. I turned in the car seat, and pointed a finger at him. He crossed his eyes to look at the finger as I declared, "After today, there is no _way_ I'm getting into a car with you as a driver!"

"You will unless you want me to leave you here at the beach tonight to sleep with the seagulls in the morning," he shot back.

I growled at him, "You wouldn't!"

Of course he would, I thought steaming like a Chinese pork bun. At the moment I felt a surge of rebellion writhe in my belly and decided to make my annoyance with him known.

Jasper stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him. He was coming around the front of the car, no doubt intending to pull me out. When he was squarely in center the headlight I quickly slammed my hand down on the horn.

_HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKK!_

He froze and stared at me like a rabbit caught in headlights and I glared right back at him through the windshield.

I felt a cool rush of air graze my cheek and then he wasn't standing in the headlights.

"Get out," his voice slid over me somewhere above me and I jumped. He was at the driver's door staring down at me balefully.

"I'm driving when we go back," I declared stubbornly.

"I don't think so. The last thing we need is for you to have a coronary on the way to the hospital."

I bared my teeth at him, " I would not!"

"You would too. Now get out of the car."

I held the steering wheel in a death grip and hissed at him, "No, not until…"

It was then that he got tired of being patient.

He barely gave me the chance to finish before he'd opened the door and scooped me up into arms and thrown me over his shoulder.

"Hey!" I shouted and beat my fists on his back. "I'm driving back to the hospital! Stop being a male pig and let me go!" I was beating at his back and kicking my feet like an obstinate 2-year old. "Let go! Let go! Let go!" Whap, whap, whap.

So we traveled down the beach, my kicking and squalling for all I was worth, demanding to be let down, he being as silent as the dead though I could tell from the atmosphere he was exasperated with me and amused at the same time. I let him seeing as we were arguing the whole way down to the shore.

"Why do you want to drive so badly?" he would ask me.

"Because you drive like crazed maniac!" I retorted and whapped him on the back for good measure.

He laughed harshly, "So I may be. Sorry," he said not really sounding sorry about it at all. "It's in my nature."

I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, "Excuses excuses. You just like watching me squirm, you twisted, horrible son of a—OOF!" I grunted when he suddenly tripped over a rock.

Pretty sure that had not been an accident.

"Do you even know _how_ to drive?" he drawled.

"Yes!" I snapped and pinched the area between his shoulder blades, "I do! My mama taught me when I was 10, I'll have you know!"

And then with a sigh, he flipped me back off his shoulder and plopped me onto the sand. I sat there on my butt, blinking at him like a stunned beetle before I jumped back to my feet and dusted myself off.

He merely regarded me and sat down when I stood up. He sat in my shadow looking across the water while I looked at him with my hands on my hips.

"The night is so silent," he said motioning for me to sit. "No birds calling, the wind is dead, the moon is hiding behind the clouds. It's ominous in a way, don't you think?

I shivered a bit and nodded. My eyes were locked on the dark and empty sky. A feeling of loneliness washed over me and unconsciously, I wrapped my arms around myself. Suddenly a blanket of warmth fell over my shoulders and I found Biloxi Regional Hospital uniform shirt two times my size draped over my shoulders.

He was still sitting in the same place and position on the sand where I had last seen him. But I knew from the way that he wasn't wearing the boring white hospital uniform shirt (the one that was I was currently wearing) anymore.

I knew from the way I could now see that he was only wearing a thin and (and blessedly near-translucent) undershirt. I told myself how much of a shame it was that he was always hiding such a sleek, powerful-looking body beneath that stupid uniform. He was beautiful the way that the muscles beneath his shirt seemed to ripple. Beautiful in the way that his porcelain skin seemed to glow even in the dark. Beautiful how each clearly defined muscle in his arms flexed when he braced himself up on the sand.

A small smile curved on my lips and I sat down before him, slowly drawing the shirt tighter over my shoulders.

"Jasper why did we come here tonight?" I asked in a voice as light as the wind. His face was still turned away from mine when he answered.

"To just be here…Should there _be_ a reason?"

I hadn't been able to help asking. He had come here as if he had a definite purpose in mind, but I guess I had come to expect too much.

Not everything in life is done with a purpose.

Sometimes things just happen.

Sometimes we just feel certain ways 'just-because' we were meant to feel that way.

Sometimes we can't help those feelings and act on them.

And sometimes instead of flying…we fall.

"Jasper, do you like me?" I asked and traced gibberish symbols in the sand by my leg. I put every ounce of love and hope that I felt for him into those symbols.

"You're a…friend to me. Of course I like you."

I picked up a chunk of sand and heaved it into the ocean in dismay, "But what if I don't LIKE you like a friend? What if I like you as more than a friend? What if…!"

His head snapped towards mine and I recoiled when I heard a sound rear up in the darkness. When I figured out that he was growling…that he was actually _growling_ my head snapped up. He was standing with his back to me.

"Then you are lost. Because I can't give you anything more than friendship, Alice. It's all that I have."

I dug my fingernails into the sand and curled my head into my chest for comfort against the shards of pain that had suddenly burrowed itself in the softest parts of my heart.

"That right?" I asked softly. "That's…That's not fair, Jasper. That's just not fair."

I dusted myself off and let his jacket fall around my ankles. Without looking at him I started walking back to the automobile. I don't think I could have looked at him without crying first.

"Alice…don't."

"I think I'm ready to be goin home now. Please take me back to the hospital, Jasper," I sighed and kept walking up the beach.

As we made our way back to the hospital (my valiant attempts to slide into the driver's seat before Jasper made it back into the car weren't successful and only landed me in the backseat of the car, if you were wondering) the car was absolutely awash with awkward emotions. My love for him was floating around the atmosphere and mingling with his feelings of reluctance and depression. But there was definitely an overpowering aura of my love and it crept into Jasper's skin. It wasn't too hard to tell from the way that he kept fidgeting in the driver's seat.

At first I turned my face into the window, letting him stew in his own juices.

Cruel, yes I know.

But I was deeply hurt.

While he felt the love I had for him spill into the pores of his skin like a sponde to water, the pain and hurt I felt from his rejected writhed beneath the surface of my own skin.

He wouldn't admit that maybe he reciprocated my feelings. Maybe he couldn't but he wouldn't even admit that he might_ have_ them. So he either didn't love me as much as I loved him or he didn't want to. He had offered me his hand in friendship.

And don't get me wrong. I was grateful he had opened up. But it was his heart that I had been hoping for. The one that he'd so securely locked away in the darkest corners of his soul.

God did it hurt…

Then I turned my face back to his and saw the blank look on his face. A cold and empty gaze.

I felt the blood in my veins run cold.

The same look that I'd seen on his face when I first met him. And the same void that I'd fallen into the night he'd revealed his dark soul.

And the same look that plainly scared the living daylight out of me.

Had I been taking a step backwards instead of a step forward?

What was he thinking about that had made him look that way?

Oh shit.

"Jasper, I'm—"

Apruptly he slammed his foot down on the pedal that stopped the automobile and I pitched forward.

"HEY!" I snarled and peeled myself off the dashboard. I shot him a dirty look and he glared right back at me just as fiercely.

"I'm _sorry._"

I blinked at the unexpected twist in his voice.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry I can only offer you so little," he started. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I won't to do anything that would ever compromise your being."

Awwww.

Without thinking about it, my hand shot out to the wheel and grabbed his pale one in mine.

"One step at a time, then. Okay? I'll follow your lead. But I was so afraid you didn't even like me that way."

Then sadly I kissed the cold hand.

"I'll...I'll be whoever you want me to be to you. As long as I can be." Then I frowned.

"Like a dog." My eyes sparkled, "Only better. More loyal!"

Startled he slid his hand out from my grasp and I found myself holding air. I could only smile at him, feeling a bit put back from the sudden detachment. But I think he saw through the façade. He lay a hand on my shoulder for the briefest moment.

Then the moment passed and he was opening the door for me. I grinned up at him radiantly, feeling happy.

He touched my shoulder! That had to mean something wasn't it? It wasn't a completely empty gesture!

Well whatever the reason for it was it affected him somehow too because before I knew it he'd zipped back into the car and careened down the street without so much as a word of farewell.

I was too warm and fuzzy to really care and merely danced forward on the sidewalk and yelled at the departing headlights, "YOU BETTER DO RIGHT AND RETURN THAT AUTOMOBILE WHERE YOU FOUND IT, YOU HEAR ME?"

I giggled and marched my way into the hospital and back up to my room. I skipped and twisted. Pivoted and twirled my way down the hall singing a tune to myself that I would not recognize til later as 'Singing in the Rain'.

Happily I threw the door to my room open and sang out, "I'm home!" I tilted my chin up proudly and spun around gracefully so that my skirt floated around my ankles dramatically.

But had I known someone would respond I would not have said anything.

"Why hello Miss. Brandon! How'd do this fine evening.."

I froze and turned slowly to meet his gaze. When I saw who it was my eyes grew glassy with horror.

He stood tall above me in front of my window. Just the same as he was years before. The same casual posture that made his long black hair fall into his eyes in the most attractive way. The same cream-colored skin and smug smile. He was still the tall, handsome young man I had known as a child. His nose was small and still cute, his jaw perfect and angular. Yes sir, just the same as I last saw him.

Ever playful.

Ever child-like.

Ever intimidating.

"Adrian…" I squeaked.

Suddenly the world around my ears roared and spun.

Funny thing was, I had stopped twirling about the room a long time ago.

* * *

Sorry it's been taking me so long. I had no idea how hard it is to be a cashier in a supermarket. All those fucking codes to memorize in the produce department…all those button combinations just for freaking jelly beans! I tip my hat to you fellow cashiers out there. Remembering all that shit is no punk! Lol 

Anyway, possible corn factor but I couldn't help but put it in there XD As you all can see things are going UP. It was very hard for me to finish this chapter mainly this ending was what would determine the overall plot of the story. The ending is already determined but I was trying to figure out how I wanted to get to that point. This, ladies (assuming that none of ya'll are guys although I realize that they're peeking in some places) is the starting climax for the story. We're slowly but surely working our way there seeing as Jasper and Alice are now "technically" together.

I'm hoping with all my little heart that this will all work out. The ending is pure sweetness but I'm trying my best to get there. I'm VERY happy that you all liked the last chapter and I know someone asked for "more Edward". It's a J+A fic but I'm sure you couldn't help it! Neither could I. He's just too much fun to NOT have in the story! LOL. You asked, I delivered. (bows).

Hoping that you all liked this one too. Tell me what you think and remember that all flames (if there ARE any or you're just holdin out on me) are accepted and acknowledged with a polite thank you. I take nothing personal unless you're bashing ME personally (who would have a reason to anyway? 0.o)

And speaking of which, I will continue to remind you all that even though this IS a Twilight fan fic about Jasper and Alice (pre-Cullen family and that most of the J+A history fics usually stay with the story) it is NOT ALL COMPLETELY accurate in accordance to the original Twilight story written by Stephenie Meyer. I mean, I know I twisted the stuff up as I went. I totally know the characters' story. (The Lexicon is our god lol) But Idid it on purpose. It's just how I decided to mold my story to fit the plot. Represent certain parts of the character in certain ways…I'll probably put up all the stuff that I've twisted around so far the day after I post this chapter so check my homepage for it! Juuust in case you're curious ;)

So that's it! Check my blog for more tomorrow! I'll update it ! And thanks so much for reading ! I fully appreciate the excited reviews I get. Nothin to warm your heart more than to know people are reading it _all_ (even the author's long rant note at the end XD), loving it all, stayin up til the crack of dawn they think it's so good. Mucho mahalo and I love you all lol.


	9. AUTHOR UPDATE

**

* * *

Moonlight Melody**

AUTHOR UPDATE: Hey all my readers, just putting this up to let you know that I've FINALLY updated my blog with some pictures and also a big comparison between Moonlight Melody and Twilight. There's so many ways the story is different from the fic I'm trying to write and I keep getting people telling me that I'm not writing the story right (as far as in emails and reviews here and there too). So it's all there for you. Plus some extra hints I've added in the story about the characters and reasons why I've added the things I've added about them.

Just a little update to let you know that work is driving me nuts. Yeah, I'm starting my first job and it takes up a lot more writing time than I had when I first started this story. Especially seeing as I'm being trained in my new job. Lotsa studying and memorizing to do 00 Sorry if it's been driving you nuts seeing as I'm taking a while to update. That's why (laughs nervously and sweatdrops). I would have put the blog and drawings up earlier but I've been at work. So sorry bout that lol.

Anyway, check out the blog if you're interested in seeing the pictures Edward drew for me and then the comparisons. Til then!

(waves like crazy and then proceeds to tow life-sized plushies of Jasper and Edward out the door with her)


	10. Shadow of My Past

* * *

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 10: Shadow of my Past

Bella tensed in Edward's arms. He looked down in alarm and then went back to watching his cooking show, "Adrian? Who's Adrian? Was he another boyfriend or someone you knew?" on her face was the unmistakable look of intrigue.

Alice sighed and looked upstairs to where Bella was certain Jasper was listening. Rosalie's fury over her dog being dropped seemed to have subsided.

But it was just that one look that made Bella's heart warm. For a brief moment, she didn't need to taste the atmosphere to feel the waves of tender emotion that went between the two.

One upstairs listening from afar in his study.

The other sitting on the couch in the basement telling her story.

"Something like that…" Alice admitted. Then with a twisted smile added, "I hate to sound cliché but it's complicated."

So complicated in fact that the next morning when I woke up in my hospital bed I thought that I might have dreamt it all.

There was no way that Adrian could possibly have been in my hospital room last night, I scolded myself.

It was all like a bad dream to find someone from your past whose memories, both good and bad, had already be worn, but engraved in your heart.

Those engravings on your heart that were things you had learned to get over with, but would never fade completely. It was unsettling to feel the grooves rising up of their own accord once more.

I took a stroll down the hallway and asked Edward, Carlisle, and Stanley (an old friend of mine that usually visited me and other occupants of the hospital. He was a really sweet, but not weak, old man.) if they or anyone had found me on the floor this morning or anything odd like that. Of course you can imagine the looks that all three men gave me, but what had it hurt to ask?

"Should I have reason to worry, Mary Alice?"

"Why do you ask, Miss Brandon?"

And even a, "Are you sure you're not crazy? Are you _planning_ to end up on the floor, Alice?" from Edward, that masochist of a vampire.

Everyone whole-heartedly assured me that my having seen Adrian was all a crazy dream. But me and my intuition were not to be easily appeased.

I spent the whole day on edge skipping and skittering across my room, putting on coat after coat of nail polish to soothe my frazzled nerves.

Finally Edward poked his head in, looked at me and called down the hall to Dr. Carlisle, "Yes, she's still pacing."

My head popped up at the sudden intrusion and I squealed.

My toes were now a mess of red. I let out a wail of frustration and threw the tiny bottle at the two vampires attempting entrance to my room.

It was well known among my closest friends, even those at the hospital, that I was very irritable and prone to throwing fits when I was under pressure.

So it might have been both habit or just superhuman reflexes that made Dr. Carlisle expect me to act in such a manner.

The doctor quickly slammed the door shut to avoid the little missile. Then he sighed as he glided into the room with Edward at his heels staring at me reprovingly.

In no mood to back down, I stared right back at him and bared my teeth defensively.

Grrr.

"Mary Alice, Edward and I can both hear you from down the hall and you've been pacing in your room all morning. Obviously having the nightmare that you had has really been upsetting you. And plainly," he said looking down at the charts in his hand, "it is also affecting your heart rate and blood pressure."

I shot Edward a dirty look, "You told him what I was thinking?"

The brush to the nail polish bottle went flying.

Vampire caught said brush and dropped it into the wastebasket.

"I was worried, Mary Alice. You're uptight over a silly dream," he informed me.

I buried my face into the pillows and moaned, "It wasn't a dream!"

"Then where is Adrian?" he countered.

Silence.

He had me there.

"It couldn't have been a dream. It was too real to just be a _dream_! It didn't feel like a dream! I know what dreams feel like that wasn't IT. This…this was really happening. I'm sure of it!" I insisted and slammed my fists into the bedspread with a big _poof_.

Dr. Carlisle looked down at me fretfully, " I don't know what it is, Mary Alice. But whether it _was_ a dream or not, it's bothering you and spiking up your vitals. _That_ worries me the most and it's my job to take care of you. You need to calm down."

Edward set a small glass of water on my vanity, "At least drink something to ease your anxiety," he said gently.

At my look of defiance he added, "Please, Alice? I really am worried about you."

My expression softened at the look of pleading on his face. For him, I stood up with agonizing slowness and took a swig of water.

"There, you happy? I drank some water! Now will you _please_ believe me when I say that this…" I frowned. "This water tastes like shit."

"Mary Alice!" Dr. Carlisle chided me for my language.

"Well it _does,_" I slurred and lifted the glass up close to my face. Little particles of green, blue, and pink swam in the water.

Wha? I blinked and opened my eyes wider to see more properly.

"Some..thing's wrong with my….."

Time seemed to suddenly come to halt and slow down to an agonizing pace. Caught off guard, I gasped softly and my fell backwards.

Edward caught me in his arms and scooped me off my feet. As the world faded into a flurry a gold, dull red, and white he cradled me gently to his chest and said, "I'm sorry Alice. I knew you were going to be such a stubborn mule so putting some sleeping medicine in your water was the only thing Carlisle and I could think of."

_You….you…drugged me you jerk.._

"Yeah, I know," he chuckled. "I'm not sorry about it, though. So that's just too bad."

A smile curved on my lips right before darkness fell.

* * *

No matter what drug you take, you can never seem to run away from your dreams…from your nightmares.

And the worst part is that drugs will only do you so good when it comes to those nightmares. Medicine will only stop the pain. But not the fear. Oh no…never the fear.

So naturally I was pissed that Edward's stupid drug didn't stop me from being afraid when I heard Adrian's voice in my head again.

It was happening again…he was back again…it WASN'T a dream.

"Well, well, well, this certainly is a surprise to see you, Ally."

His voice crawled along the surface of my skin causing the goose bumps on my body to rise.

_You shouldn't be here! You can't possibly be here!_

Despite the voice that seemed to be screaming in my head uncontrollably, he continued to talk and walk the room. My eyes were closed.

"And BOY have you _grown!" _he observed with glee.

My mind was rebelling against all logic and I swear it, I was a tightly knit ball of hysterics.

"I came back for you just as I promised…"

_You shouldn't be here! _My mind screamed.

_You should be dead!_

I clutched at the blankets blindly and took a deep breath. Adrian should be dead. It had been too long. I forced myself to think logically and take in the feelings around me.

I was on hospital bed for one thing. My eyes were closed tightly. And said dead person was standing above me. I opened one eye and peeked out.

The man that stood above me should have by the laws of nature, been dead long ago when he caught sick during our childhood stared down at me on the hospital bed.

We'd been childhood friends, and sure. We'd really had something special. We were the best of friends. There weren't no boy with a heart sweeter'n Adrian Flynn's and we'd even been engaged to each other in the way that young kids usually did for pretend.

That had been when I was around seven or eight. By the time Adrian had been sixteen, he was sick for two years before he'd caught the deadly sickness that had been spreading around. Two years before dying at eighteen.

Yet here he was in the flesh at least nine years after his tragic demise.

He was the same young man who I'd had mud fights and mud pie with. I saw the same 16 year old on whose head I had placed a wreath of daisies as I pretended to marry him.

"_I'm yours," _I'd whispered.

"Surprised?" he asked now, still the same as ever. A smug grin light up his handsome face. He turned in a complete circle. His enthusiasm was almost childlike. "I'm all better and I haven't forgotten you, Ally! See?"

I nodded grimly and looked him up and down.

Time had done me good and gradually I'd bloomed into womanhood. But it seemed as if for him, time had come to a stop permanently, leaving him as a young man with the heart and soul of a child.

"Adrian, what in god's green earth are you doin here?" I asked slowly, wary of the expression on his face.

He was surprised, "You didn' really think I'd go round forgettin' you, did you? I'd promised to come back for you! We're gonna be together like we used to be and it'll be great!" he smiled broadly and then launched off again. The shadow of my past laughed. He was practically teeming with merriment.

Somehow though the sun shone in his face, the darkness of uncertainty…plain ol' fear, writhed like a snake in my heart.

Everything should have been right and everything seemed right to him. Like old friends reuniting after long years apart.

But everything felt wrong and seemed wrong to me. Like old friends, one live and one dead, reuniting sooner than they should've.

"Oh, Ally, you wouldn't believe the friend's I'd made! We're like family and—" he stopped abruptly when he noticed the look on my face.

Uncertainty flickered across his face.

"You didn't forget _me_, now did ya?"

I shook my head rather than let him hear the doubt in my voice.

"Then what is it?" he placed his hands on the edge of my bed and then his face was only a breadth away from my own.

It was in the glare of his black spectacles that I saw the reflection of a frightened little girl.

And in the face of fear I drew myself up and tried to regain my courage.

I swallowed the large lump that had developed in my throat and laid a hand on his shoulder. Then I gently pushed him backwards so that I had room to sit up.

"Adrian, I'm just…surprised."

"Surprised bout what?"

"You shouldn't…you shouldn't. Y'know. Be alive," I said softly and gestured to his seemingly youthful appearance. "You shouldn't look like you're eighteen when we both know that that was years ago. You should be a_ man_ bout now,"

A look of excitement exploded on his face and he nodded emphatically. Like I had finally gotten it, "I know, Ally! See that's what Mary-Lynn and the others did to me! They _helped_ me!"

I frowned, "Just like that?"

It was so hard to believe that people would help someone out of the goodness of their hearts. Without anything to expect in return.

"Okay, at a price," he admitted a bit sullenly. Like I'd spoilt the best surprise.

I was almost afraid to even ask. And when I finally did work up the courage to do so, my voice came out in hushed tones, "What kind of price, Adrian?"

With agonizing slowness, he pulled down the edge of the large black spectacles.

I let out a shrill _eep_ and frantically backpedaled into the headboard of my hospital bed. He quickly put the spectacles back on.

His eyes, that I had remembered to be a beautiful green the color of the ocean, were now black with cores that glowed red like embers.

They were utterly vampiric.

"A vampire! You're a vampire!" I squeaked at him and pointed a chipped-red painted nail at his face (I'd managed to gnaw all the nail polish off in my anxiety).

He wheeled around from me, gripping his hair in his hands like he used to do when he was excited, "YES! YES!"

"How? Did they bite you?!"

He nodded and then proceeded to tell me everything that had happened to him.

"I was sick for two years. Two horrible years of being sick every day was torture. I was always cold and sweatin', always throwing up. Always hungry but never wanting to eat nothin'. Always hurtin 'til I'd scream and just hope to God…Just hope to GOD I'd just _die _already, yknow?

There wasn't anyone who was able to help me. None of the stupid doctors could cure me. All they could do was look at me and tell me how very _sorry_ they were and tell my parents hope for the _best_," he spat with disgust. "They were all the same!

They all. Didn't. _Try._"

His face darkened with anger and I patted his hand sympathetically. In a flash so quickly that I didn't even see it, he was suddenly sitting on the edge of my bed.

His story, even at its sad beginning seemed to have enthralled me because I was now sitting cross-legged before him, with my hand on his. I hadn't even remembered moving.

Adrian nodded and, encouraged by my sympathy, went on, "But I knew _you_ missed me, didn't you, Ally?" he piped up like a child, now happy. "I knew you loved me, even if you was getting sicker too. That your heart kept actin up. Right?"

I nodded and mumbled under my breath, "Actin up is right."

He smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, "Oh, I understand, Ally. I loved you for your weak heart too."

I looked down at my hands clasped within his on the bed covers. They were so cold and hard.

Weak heart, huh?

Sure, I knew I had a weak heart, but who in her right mind would want to hear it? It just seemed to hurt more when he reminded me about it.

I tried to tug my hand out of his but he continued to hold onto it.

So after a few moments of serious tugging and grunting (it almost came to the point where I was tempted to put my foot on his hand as a brace and pull) I finally gave up. My shoulders drooped in defeat.

Wearily, I waved the hand that wasn't captive for him to go on.

"And then _he_ came to town," he grinned. I flinched, "Elliot. Elliot was a doctor too, and a weird'un at that. See, now if there ever was a doctor, it was _him_ that cared. He looked at me for longer than a day and kept on poking and proddin'. He made small talk with me and made me feel comfortable. He was kina like an uncle, even if he was from outta state. Somewhere from Massachusetts, he said.

'You came a long way, didn't you?' I asked him. 'And what brought you so far from home?'.

'Traveling with family', he'd said.

I didn't really think nothing bout it, but when I found out what he was later on I realized that I'd come pretty close to some touchy subjects," he started to stroke my knuckles with his thumb, making the hairs on my arm rear up indignantly.

The tugging started up again.

"'Cuz see, what happened to my family is a sore topic too." When Adrian looked up, he had no trouble conveying the hurt that he'd carried on his shoulders for years. "My ma and my pa are gone, Alice. I think they're dead."

My eyebrows knit together. "How?"

Adrian ducked his head, "See Elliot cured me and all that when he took me away with him one night. I was with him for only a few days and when we came back my house…my parents just weren't _there_ no more. They were gone. And _you _were gone too. You'd gone and left me too," he murmured a bit sadly.

I knew instinctively that he was referring to the time when my heart had starting really acting up, forcing my family to move closer to the hospital.

If I hadn't known already that it was a little too late for apologizing, I might have pleaded for forgiveness and said that it would be all right.

"So I stayed with them. Mary-Lynn and the others. I've just become a part of the family. I've been with them since I became one of em. And it almost feels like family, yknow that?"

I smiled a bit softly at the soft look on his face. It was the kind of look that he'd gotten when we would lie in the daisy fields together with my head on his belly, his arms behind his head. The kind of look that said he was happy and belonged.

Slowly my hackles lowered and I said sincerely, "I'm so glad that you've found a place where you belong, Adrian."

He looked at me in surprise and I added, "Really! I mean if it's family and you're happy then so'm I. You've got that gooshy look on your face," I teased him and poked a finger at his cheek.

He gaped at me in astonishment. I giggled madly as he gave me a toothy smile. (You know those stupid giggles where you can hear yourself laughing and know you sound like an idiot but just can't seem to stop? Eesh.)

I'd have said that it was a little too toothy for my comfort. Yknow with fangs and all. But hell, Bella, you know we don't really have fangs.

All the same it made me as skittish as a horse.

I poked him harder and then he covered my hand with his, effectively trapping my hand under his.

"I'm so glad you're happy for me Alice," he said tenderly.

I frowned and tugged at my hand. He held onto it as tightly as he did the one on the bed.

You'd think I'd learn by now.

"But although belong, there's still something that's missing from my life that I miss so much."

I froze.

You know when you get a bad feeling about something?

"Ally, I miss you," he croaked and threw his arms around me, hugging me to his body gently.

I settled my hands across his back and patted him comfortingly.

"Mary Alice? Who is your friend?" a voice called from the doorway. I froze like a stuffed turkey and craned my head around to Dr. Carlisle.

"Dr. Carlisle, this is a…"

"Adrian, sir," Adrian cut in and released me. He wheeled up from the bed and held out his hand to Dr. Carlisle to shake. With a small frown the doctor opened his mouth.

"Actually.." Dr. Carlisle started again.

And was stopped again.

"I'm a friend of All…Mary Alice's. I'm just stopped by to visit her," Adrian shrugged with a boyish smile. "I've really missed her, see?"

The frown on Dr. Carlisle's face smoothed out and was replaced with an easy smile, "Yes, I see. Well, it's good to see a nice friendly reunion."

My friend nodded and then patted the doctor on the shoulder, "Well, I won't be taking up any more of your time. I guess I should be going now."

Dr. Carlisle protested even as Adrian made his way out the door and shot Adrian a sly smile. Then the door clicked shut and Dr. Carlisle shook his head.

"A nice boy," he murmured, clutching at his head.

"It looks like you're feeling better now." He motioned to the way I was practically hanging off the edge of my bed.

"You see!" I piped up. "He _wasn't _just a dream. He was real! Adrian was really here."

"Yes, yes I see that, Mary Alice. I'm sorry I doubted you. Edward and I were genuinely worried about you."

I trailed my toes in a shamed circle on the tile floor, "Yeah, I know. But at least now I know for sure he's back."

And I knew for certain that he would be back.

Adrian was never the kind of person who would just leave well enough alone, see? So he was bound to come back. Maybe the night even. It would be so like him.

He _did_ come back.

But he wasn't alone this time.

I was before my vanity rummaging through a box of different colored beads when unexpectedly, the door creaked open.

I turned around expectantly.

"Hello, Ally. I'm back!" Adrian beamed at me in his brown slacks and white dress shirt.

"I figured as much," I muttered dryly and motioned for him to come in. Like I could say no.

With a polite thank you, ma'am he and about three other people glided into my hospital room.

Three other vampires.

I dropped the box of beads that were in my hand and gaped in shock as my room was suddenly flowing with predators.

Brightly colored beads flowed into every corner of the room and I heard distinct crunches as the vampires stepped over the various pieces.

Out of the three of them there were two men and one red-headed woman. They we were all wearing the same black spectacles that Adrian was and dressed more or less for travel. My childhood friend seemed to be the youngest, the baby, of the group.

"Ally, this is my family. They saved me and made me…me," Adrian said proudly. He motioned to each person in turn. "This is Elliot," a tall thirty-ish looking man nodded to me. Elliot was the doctor who had helped Adrian.

"Mary-Lynn," a curvy red-headed woman regarded me besides Elliot. She was very beautiful, very pretty.

"And this is James," the last man was a very normal looking person, which light feathery brown hair. He made no acknowledgement to me from where he stood apart behind the other two.

Then Adrian introduced me too.

Soon the introductions were over and I put the now empty box on my vanity and sat on my bed.

"It's…it's nice to meet you all," I squeaked to them.

Can you tell that I was scared?

Would you believe me if I said I didn't know why?

How bad could a family of Adrian's be?

"I knew that you would approve of them, Ally," Adrian winked. "Because I wanna talk to you. I thought maybe it would be best if I did it with them in the room with me."

"Oh-Oh is that so? What did you want to talk about?" I twirled a strand of my short locks.

Adrian dropped his gaze and smiled widely.

"See…" he started and plucked at his pants nervously. "I've really missed you for a long time, Ally. And Elliot said it would be alright to ask if you wanted to."

I blinked. I didn't have any intentions of leaving. Not with Jasper here.

I would probably follow Jasper anywhere, forever, I was so wrapped up in him.

"Wanted to ask you if you wanted to join us…be one of us."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry. I'm touched you want me to tag along with you all, but I don't think me…"

The tall man named Elliot spoke up to my friend, "I think she's misunderstood your meaning, boy."

Adrian's cleared his throat, "What I MEAN to ask you is whether you'd like to join our family…and be changed.

Be one of us…with us."

Forever..I thought. Be one of them, forever. A vampire.

With Jasper.

I held my breath and counted to three:

_Could I really?_

_Be with Jasper forever?_

_Be a vampire…forever?_

* * *

Yes, I'm sorry I have to stop here before my fingers fall off. I'm so glad I'm past this chapter. It's really been killing me to write Adrian's story. And for another, I wrote 'Aiden' in my drawing book. I went halfway into this chapter before I realized I'd changed Adrian into Aiden lol. So let me know if you got confused and I slipped up somewhere.

As you can see more characters are coming in and I want to see if you can catch some of them. Review and tell me what you think. About the characters, about what's going on. I won't evaluate this chapter right now. There's a pie in the fridge just calling to me at the moment and my fingers are killing me, I've been typing for hours. Not to mention I feel that there's not much I can evaluate without giving away some of the goodies I hid away in this chapter. I'll see if you guys can find that. Send me a message if you do, btw. Or review your suspicions. ;)

Signing off for now and eagerly starting the next chapter!! Ja ne!


	11. Future Prospects

* * *

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 11: Future Prospects

"What I MEAN to ask you is whether you'd like to join our family…and be changed," Adrian prodded again when I failed to answer him. Maybe I hadn't heard the question the first time?

"Be one of us…with us."

Oh, I had definitely heard him. I had heard him so clearly the question was ringing in my head like an endless round of echoes. The question he'd so casually posed for me was so unbelievable and so wonderful at the same time.

Had he really just offered me an eternity free of sickness on a platter? My heart squeezed at the thought. What would it be like to never be sick anymore? I wondered clutching at the fabric that rested lightly over the core of my weakness.

To never have to worry about my heart having another fit. Maybe even my last fit.

To never feel like glass…to never be broken.

The thought was almost euphoric.

The thought made butterflies dance in the pit of my stomach.

By the look of contentment that had dawned on my face the vampires were now more surer than ever that I had understood their priceless offer.

"I think NOW she catches your meaning," Elliot muttered smugly from somewhere near the closet. The smug tones in his voice stopped. In mid-happy mode I stopped for a moment to consider that maybe there was another side to the question that I had failed to grasp in my barely contained enthusiasm.

My eyes flickered to every corner of the room frantically. It seemed too perfect a deal. There were many times that you had to remember something when almost everything seems to be going right.

If the day was going perfect and nothing seemed wrong, something bad was going to happen. If something was too good to be true…Chances were it _was_ too good to be true.

"What on _earth_ is she doing?" I vaguely heard someone croaked in disgust.

I needed time to think about this, I told myself sternly. I needed time to pull my eyes away from the prize.

Adrian sighed, "She does that when she gets nervous or antsy," he informed them. Then he pried my fingers out of my mouth. "Ally, take your hands away from there. Take it easy, now."

I growled in my throat and batted at his hands when he reached for my mouth where I was unconsciously hacking away at my nails. He held up his hands in surrender.

"You don't have to decide now," he grumbled grudgingly and blew air out of his nose in the way that he used to when we were kids and I'd been too stubborn to believe that mama wouldn't find the mud pie I'd hidden in the back of the pantry.

"You're such a—I don't?"

The woman (what was her name again?) Mary-Lynn spoke up for the first time, "Of course not. You didn't really think we'd expect you to give us an answer right now, did you?" she smirked as if the idea were stupid.

Well…_yeah, _I thought dryly. Actually I had.

"Mary-Lynn is right, Mary Alice," Elliot agreed. "What we ask of you is no easy question. This is something that will change your life for all eternity. You would be a fool to simply say, 'yes' immediately."

It let out a little sigh. Then it really was a little comforting that I wasn't a fool.

"IS that what you thought? Gee wiz, Ally, I wouldn't push you like that!" Adrian frowned in disappointment. "I mean I want you to say yes but I want you to _wanna_ say yes because you miss me too."

So should I say yes?

"We'll wait for your answer, Ally," Adrian said gently.

No pressure though, right?

It was only eternity _anyway._ I mused dryly as the vampires flooded out of the room in a wave of porcelain, leaving me with so much more than one vampire to think about. Instead of another vampire, I saw myself in a mirror as the vampire. As something that might one day be _me_. If I were to reach out for it and make it happen.

Yet like the idea of immortality, the number of times that I thought about it seemed to never end either.

The following afternoon was one I devoted specifically to that purpose. Planning my death (if that was how it would happen). Boundless possibilities and questions spiraled through my head like aerials and I went through them each one by one.

There were so many reasons why I should agree to Adrian's wishes and become a vampire.

For one thing, I wouldn't have a weak heart anymore: Instead I'd be stronger, practically invincible. None of the nurses would be watching me to see if I would fall. I wouldn't have to be under there supervision anymore. I wouldn't have to stay in the hospital anymore. I'd be able to live the life of a normal teenager. Well, a teenager who drank blood of others, but still. Anything was better than being so weak, the kids would bet who could topple me first, right?

For another I could share Jasper's pain and ease it so greatly. If I wasn't human, with blood and life coursing through my veins then maybe Jasper didn't have to worry about losing control and stealing the life from me.

If I wasn't human, maybe Jasper could _love_ me freely.

But there was also another side to the coin as well.

My life would never be the same ever again. I would never be able to see my friends in school ever again. In fact, I'd probably end up outliving them all in the end. The idea that my mother could cease to be a woman in my other life who died more than 100 years ago in the early 1900s brought tears to my eyes. All my friends…my school. The town I grew up in would change before my eyes as I stood watching, a timeless portrait of what used to be.

It was a sad thought.

But I tried to tell myself that as long as I had Jasper, then I was satisfied. Life would never be boring without him. Even having the blood lust would be worth it if we had each other, right?

In conclusion, although there were a lot of downsides to it all, the prospect of being with Jasper pretty much cancelled it all out. It paved the way for a life that I had only ever hoped of.

Maybe I would even get to take revenge on Edward for every time he naturally had the upper hand over me simply because he was what he was.

Yes, all seemed to be well. The only remaining wrinkle was that if I said yes to Adrian, I would be saying that I was becoming a vampire to be with _him_. I was assuming that when he asked me if I said yes to being changed into one of him, then I would be doing it _for_ him. To be with him in a way that was more than brotherly. Basically it was a package deal.

I tossed over in my bed around three in the afternoon, my eyes trained on the tree outside my window.

It was while entertaining myself with these thoughts that I fell asleep and drifted away into the night. And then after so long, I was dreaming again…

_"Ally! Ally come_ back _here!" a young man with long black hair and brilliant green eyes chased after a little girl though a daisy field. _

_It was one of those days. The daisies had their faces turned up to the sky, illuminating the field like specs of golden sunshine. Butterflies danced around the flowers gaily tittering to the rhythm of the breeze. It was one of those perfectly clear and sunny day when it seemed like nothing could go wrong._

"_Come'n get me!" Alice giggled and flung herself into a cluster of daisies, huddling down in the flowers for cover. She started to count:_

_1…2…3… _

_A flurry of red butterflies took flight as she settled down and suddenly the game included much more than just two people._

"_Alice?"_

"_Mary-Alice!"_

_4…5..6..._

"_Ally, come back!"_

_Alice laughed softly to herself as Adrian cursed and peeked out from between the two white daisies before her at the people who were playing with her._

_Adrian and James argued with each other over which end of the field that they would look in, while Carlisle and her mother were milling through cluster after cluster searching fruitlessly. Meanwhile, near the edge of the field, Edward was working to convince a girl that Alice didn't recognize to get down off the tree. She was a pretty girl with short brown hair and her skin was almost as light as Edward's The strange girl was busy trying to climb up to see the meadow from a bird's eye-view and her progress up the tree was sloth-like and clumsy. It seemed to frustrate Edward a little bit more with each inch she made up the tree._

_Alice looked around at each person, waiting patiently for someone to find her._

_Someone..anyone?_

_6…7…_

_Around her the dark red butterflies fluttered in the wind, clamoring around her as if urging her forward into motion._

_8…9…_

_She jumped to her feet with the shriek of someone who had waited long enough and alerted the searchers to her location. Heads popped up all over the meadow, as if catching the scent of prey._

_In a way it was true._

"_Mary Alice!" her mother called after her, "You stop right there or I'll come an' get you myself!"_

_Alice took no heed of her mother's calls and streaked across the field. And as she ran, she grew older._

_The farther away from her mother and friends she got, the farther away from childhood she went. With each step she grew taller and her arms and legs became less cherubic. More slender and lithe. Her hair went from being a little mane of hair to a long and gloriously untamed mass of hair. It was such a surprise that it didn't shorten as she had previously cut it. And she continued to ripen._

_Until she reached the edge of the river with water as green as Adrian's own eyes, she was a young woman again._

"_ALICE! NO!" Jasper cried out to her._

_10…_

_Suddenly her screams pierced the air as someone seized her around the waist and covered her face to smother her cries. _

_She fell backwards into the icy depths of the river with hands covering her face colder than death itself._

"_Alice…"_

"_Wanted to ask you if you wanted to join us…be one of us."_

"_I bet you Brandon won't last more than a DAY in school this time!"_

_"That poor dear…"_

"_Oh don't you go choosin' _her_ now! Her heart's so weak you'll lose the game before it's started!"_

_"I don't like you in that manner, Alice."_

"_I can't give you anything more than friendship, Alice."_

_Alice's heart burst with grief as voices in her head repeated the words lying raw in her mind that had ever caused her some horrible pain. And while her heart sank, so did her body continue to sink deeper and deeper into the depths of misery._

"NO!" I screamed and bolted up straight in my bed, almost colliding with Adrian.

"GEEZE!" Adrian flew backwards away from me. "It's a good thing that you didn't hit me. I'd have cracked your head open. You okay? Your nightmares sound _bad._" An almost wistful expression crossed his face before he squelched it. "It's been a while since I had nightmares."

"You don't get no nightmares?" I asked, perplexed. The idea that someone who had gone through so much in life (getting sick, find out his family and friends were gone) had gone through it painlessly was a hard one to grasp.

He straightened up and backed away from the bed shaking his head sadly, "I don't sleep. None of us can anymore," he corrected me.

"Oh.."

Did becoming a vampire mean I'd have to give up my dreams too?

I caught a flash of red from the corner of the room and found Mary-Lynn was watching me closely from behind Adrian's back very similarly in the way that a cat watches a mouse.

Right before it was eaten.

I pulled the blanket up to my chin. There was no way she was eating _me,_ I told myself sternly She was dressed in the thick green coat that I'd first seen her in the night before. A bulky, menacing, woolen bundle of forest green.

"What's she doing here," I asked, indicating her with a nod of my head. He looked behind him at Mary-Lynn who only blinked her big red eyes innocently.

Yeah, right.

"Oh, she's with me! I was kinda hoping she might be able to persuade you to join us," he admitted somewhat sheepishly.

Unfortunately, if he said that Mary-Lynn could persuade me to join the Vampire Republic, then chances were she probably could. He'd always had good intuition like I did. So what was it about Mary-Lynn that was so special? The thought of Edward being able to hear voices in his head crossed my train of thought and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention.

Did Mary-Lynn have some sort of gift as well?

"Oh really?" I squeaked.

Mary-Lynn took that opportunity to answer for herself.

"Yes," she drawled. "Really…"

I stared at her as she glided forth from behind him towards me. She made sure that as she walked she swayed her bell-like hips from side to side. The woman was beautiful. Her beauty was ethereal. Her red hair flowed over her shoulders in gentle red waves. Her curved lips were wide, full, and very red…red like her eyes. She was voluptuous and curvy in the way that would make any woman weak with envy.

And she knew it.

"Mary Alice, I really hope that you'll consider becoming one of us. You' d never regret it, I can promise you that."

"What makes you so sure of yourself?" I asked.

"Because I've never regretted the life I now live for one second in all my existence." I was ready to counter her when she went on. "Do you know how long I've lived Alice?"

I shrugged. She looked no more than 30 years old.

"I've walked this earth for more than 352 years. 352 years a goddess. More powerful than any locomotive or force on the face of the planet," she purred. "We do not age, do not get sick, we do not get injured.

"We do not die Mary Alice."

She took a step towards me.

"We.." she whispered, "are forever."

I shook my head hard, "Yeah, but is it really worth it to lose my humanity so that I'll always drink blood?"

Mary-Lynn's lips parted and revealed a row of dazzling teeth that would make a dentist faint with pleasure.

I felt ready to faint, but not from pleasure.

The smile was almost Cheshire-like. It was utterly horrifying.

"It's a way of life, my sweet," she crooned. "You kill cattle and pig to eat don't you?" She shook her head in mock disapproval, sending cascades of red tumbling down around her face and framing it dramatically.

"Those were once living, breathing, thinking, feeling animals too, yknow. But you slaughter them to eat for dinner. You only do what you must to survive.

"As do we. It is our nature. Our only means of survival and there is nothing we can do about it but live with it," she finished, her eyes flashing red at me again.

I trembled and shook my head, backing away. There was a part of me that screamed. A fear inside me that made my instincts ring with alarm.

That Mary-Lynn was not someone to be trusted.

Adrian saw clearly that Mary-Lynn was not convincing me, but was upsetting me and came by my side, immediately seizing me around the waist and pulling me out of my bed and into his embrace like he used to when I had problems at home. And like those times, my arms went around his waist, my face burrowing deep into his chest. He was suddenly my big brother again.

My protector.

"It's okay Ally," he assured me, rubbing soothing circles on my back. "Don't be afraid. Mary-Lynn is only concerned. She cares. She really does mean well."

Mary-Lynn smiled at me warmly form behind Adrian's back, yet it was a lukewarm assurance that she gave. My lips still trembled at the coldness that I found in her eyes.

Such fierce coldness.

"Shhh," he was saying as he continued to rub my back.

"_I'm here…Just calm down…"_

As he whispered sweet words to me, I felt the knots of tension in various parts of my body unlock and soften of their own accord. I let out a sigh, finally able to relax and laid my head on his firm chest. The same chest of the boy...no young man, who had always been there watching over me.

Always…

Always…I realized.

My hands came out from behind his back and around his waist.

Maybe I'd been too quick…I thought drowsily. Far too quick to say no..Or think that I'd ever be without him if I had a choice.

I carefully slid my hand up his body.

Up from his hips, over the muscles in his stomach, and over the smooth contours of his chest. I let my arms snake up so as to come to rest around his neck.

Torrents of warmth radiated from my body. I felt nothing but the dregs of desire to finish.

The desire to _do_ as I lifted up my face to his and wanted… so much to close what little distance that there was between us.

His eyes were startlingly hot. He was all that I could see.

Adrian's face tilted and started to descend with agonizing slowness upon mine, his lips parted.

A distant part of myself screamed shrilly over…and over again.

_Stop stop stop stop stop stop!_

And then broke out into the night air.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"

I felt the warmth in me melt away into nothingness and found Jasper was standing in my doorway with a set of trash bags near his feet, long forgotten.

A fire illuminated my face.

What was I _doing_ wrapped around Adrian? I wondered. I pulled myself away from him and quickly danced away on shaky legs. It was a scenario in which I was the kid caught with my hand in the cookie jar. But what it felt like was waking up from a bad nightmare and finding out the monster was still there.

"Jasper!" I gasped. "This isn't—I mean, I don't know why I…This isn't what it looks like!" I waved my hands quickly in a flurry of motions in my own sort of feeble attempt to explain why he'd caught me hanging off a boy, when I'd told him I loved _him._

"See…Adrian, he's a good friend of mine…knew him since we were kids and I was really confused an—an depressed so he was just trying to comfort me and then—"

A snarl so inhumane I jumped rippled from his throat, "Shut the hell up," Jasper growled at me. His head snapped towards Adrian, "What do you want with Alice?"

Adrian opened his mouth to shoot back a retort. Instead another voice cut off his protest.

"Jasper Whitlock, why I never!"

Jasper froze, his eyes wide with shock.

The beautiful redhead slinked forth from the shadows. The sway of her hips was more pronounced than ever.

I looked from Jasper to Mary-Lynn and then back again.

What was happening?

"Maria…?" Jasper croaked in disbelief.

Mary-Lynn's lips curved into a sultry smile.

"So you _do_ remember me," she sounded genuinely pleased.

I frowned.

Something wasn't right.

Mary-Lynn wasn't Mary-Lynn.

Mary-Lynn was…Maria?

* * *

I got a couple of reviews from some people urging me on…I feel further urged to finish sooner. Work was really starting to pull me out to sea and you guys sorta pulled me right back in to my writing. So thanks for that!

This chapter was sort of a thinking chapter. I mean the way that Alice first sees things when they ask her to become a vampire is a happy one. Ykno, she'll finally be strong. From the beginning of the story one of things that pisses and saddens Alice the most is that everyone knows that she's weak, physically (we all know it's another matter emotionally, right?) because she's the girl in the hospital with the bad heart. Of course her conscience warns her that there's a bad side to everything. "If something is too good to be true, chances are it usually is," is the sort of thing a girl you'd think after being disappointed most of your life. Wouldn't you be disappointed if just when it seems like when everything (think 'heart' here) is getting better and better things jus go to the shits? Kinna makes your hope dim. But seeing as Jasper has come into her life, she's kind of hoping that this will all end. She can finally be strong enough for him. She won't have any blood for him to thirst after. And when the man you're pretty sure you're in love with can be with you you pretty much don't care what else may happen. As long as you're with him you can really be happy. Now…if _only_ Adrian weren't in the way, huh? Well, we'll see what will happen with him soon.

Maria…ahhhh Maria Mariahhh…she's an interesting character too. I see it as she's pretty damn old, but old in an impressive way. She's the epitome of seductive sexiness. She's dark and beautiful, in a 'im-pretty-but-i'll-rip-out-your-heart' sorta dark, if you know what I mean XD sadly, her beauty is so otherworldly and droolworthy, she makes Alice look like a little girl. (ouch)

Lastly I was sorta agonizing over a few things when it came to the ending of this story and then I came to a realization that Jasper and Alice's story is almost over! (gasp!) lol Yeah, it was only supposed to be a few chapters long, do you believe that? I'm always writing these long stories and I always go on this long hiatus and when I come back I've already lost my feel for the story. But as I was looking at the plot and what it had developed into I realized that the end was nearer than I'd planned. Maybe about two chapters or so left to go. Chapter 11 and 12 will probably be the last. 13..I don't know if there will be a 13 but I'm standing firm in saying, 13 is my limit. This chapter was the turning point. The next chapter (which has been, by the way, in the editing stage for a while in prep for the closing chapter) is an interesting one of mine, I think XD. And seeing as it's already being edited I cant tell you all that it will be out within the next few weeks, tops.

Then please take a look and maybe even leave a comment on my blog ( I've added some stuff in there about 10 minutes ago). Yeah, I've changed it so that everyone can comment on the posts. I mean you'll show up as Anonymous (grumbles about that a bit) but hell..just leave me your name/signname at the end of the comment so I can figure out who you are and all that. The comment link is that little yellow pencil at the bottom of the page.

The next chapter only needs a little tweaking and adding to it. It's mostly finshed so not too long til posting, i swear!! hang in there:)


	12. Ashes

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 12: Ashes

I looked between both Mary-Lynn (AKA Maria, apparently) and Jasper. They were like Apollo and Artemis in that their expressions were total opposites. Two very different pictures.

One of fierce bitterness.

The other of smug satisfaction.

And then, as if realizing that his emotions were displayed on his face, Jasper's expression shifted and become neutral and unyielding.

Jasper was a veteran of war and he knew the rules. He would not give the enemy satisfaction of knowing that he had been affected in any way. To do so, would be to give the enemy—Maria—confidence.

I had no idea what to expect next. But whatever had happened between the two of them had not been good. Whatever had went down in the past, however, had definitely not stayed down. Feelings brewed beneath the surface. It was clear.

"Jasper", I started tentatively, "What's…"

At the sound of his name, he started to move towards me and would have made it.

He would have made it had Maria not beat him to it. And then we were all in compromising positions and things became even more serious than ever. It was one of those moments were you didn't think about what you were going to do. You just suddenly didn't know.

I stood frozen in place with Maria's arm wrapped around me in a way that was far too intimate for my pleasure. Intimate in a way that was almost lethal. It seemed that Maria's aura radiated pure, twisted seduction.

"Major Whitlock,_ halt,_" she mocked.

And with her arm looped almost threateningly around my neck like some sort of choke collar, he had no choice but to do so. Though not without looking completely livid.

"Let. Her. Go," he snarled through grit teeth.

Maria grinned at him in defiance, "Why should I? She's such a pretty little thing, isn't she?" she trailed her long fingernails down my face, bringing a shiver down my spine.

"So pixie-like and delicate," she murmured, lost in thought.

We all stood there silently afraid to move. To breathe. It was all so calm. And at the last possible moment the tension snapped.

"So _breakable,"_ she hissed and tightened her grip on my neck. Suddenly my air supply was cut off and I gagged. My hands immediately flew to my throat, batting frantically at her hands.

I couldn't breathe…

Pain roared through my ears making even Jasper's own inhuman roar of fury dim to my ears.

I was about to pass out when she let go of my windpipe.

Greedily sucked up as much as would fill my lungs before she tried to pull another fast one. But it didn't look like she would try it again after a minute or so. I gasped in exhaustion and went limp. If it weren't for the way she held me around the waist off the ground, I would have surely collapsed in a pathetic little heap.

I felt my heart stutter and pulse with much more than pain and blood. My heart pulsed with fear and spread throughout the veins in my body, sliding down my back.

Maybe it was my nerves…

Maybe I was weak.

Maria was just as dangerous as I had feared. She wouldn't let Adrian's affection for me stop her from grabbing me around the neck, manhandling me. She would it let stop her from killing me, if it came to that, I was willing to bet.

What a stone cold bitch…

"Do you _love_ the little pixie, Major?" she cooed.

My ears perked up even as I hung gasping for air. What would he say? Would he be prompted to tell the truth?

Would the truth kill me before Maria could?

Instead he curtailed the question diplomatically.

"I should have killed you the moment I'd found out you'd betrayed me," Jasper murmured, his quiet comment so saturated with venom and hate.

How had she betrayed him?

"Awww," she wrapped a red tendril around her finger, "Should have…would have…could haves. Don't look like you succeeded on that one now_ does_ it, sugar?"

"Not yet it doesn't" he retorted. "I won't have to worry about killing you after this."

"Me?" she grinned. "It wasn't you I came back for, Major."

Adrian, I realized. She came for his sake.

It took Jasper longer to grasp this, however. Maybe after seeing Maria have him a few moments of unclarity.

A sad known fact in life, Bella.

Humans and vampires alike are similar to bulls.

When their emotions get hold of 'em, they only see the target in front of them. They only see red.

Maria tittered and tapped a blood red fingernail to her chin primly. The kind of motion you made when you were thinking how much of shame something was. She was the spitting image of hypocrisy.

"What I _should_ say is that it ain't me you should you be worryin' yourself about."

The sudden possibility that he could have focused on the wrong target dawned on him too late.

Adrian was suddenly standing in front of Maria, his face dark with hatred.

"I am."

And then he rushed at Jasper, a black blur in my field of vision.

It was so fast that the only way I was able to tell where they'd gone was from the way they'd barreled through yet another wall in the hospital like Jasper had done with Edward last week.

And pathetically enough, as I lay hanging, I couldn't help but wonder, 'What on earth would I tell the Cullens this time?'

"No!" I wheezed and started to struggle in Maria's grip.

When I finally landed a kick or ten she hauled me up to her face by one hand and shook me so hard my head flew back and forth on my shoulders painfully, "You're going to stay right here with me, little pixie or I swear to God imma break your wings!"

I briefly considered attempting further escape seeing as I didn't HAVE wings. Then I changed my mind upon realizing that this would not discourage her from finding some sort of substitute body part I would be only too fond of.

I promptly froze in mid-bite mode and reverted my gaze to the struggle currently taking place in the following room.

What I noticed there both astounded and confused me.

In a sort of roundabout way…the fight had churned to a shocking halt. Almost a resigned calm.

Jasper stood at the side of the room closest to the new entrance immobile. Just STANDING there doing nothing. Not throwing no punches or kicks or whatever vampires did when they fought. It was just stunning. What was wrong? What was happening to Jasper? Why was he just standing there?

Adrian, on the other hand, was completely mobile. It wasn't too hard to tell from the way he was walking around Jasper in a tight circle, spitting words at his opponent that I was too far away to hear.

"JASPER!" I called out.

Snap outta it!

In a desperate attempt to make some sort of contact with him, I sent towards him the most concrete form of question that I could: emotions. I took all the pain and worry that I felt for him and thrust it at him as hard as I could, willing him to feel all the love I felt for him. He could feel emotions, couldn't he?

He could. And the emotions that he felt coming from him most definitely caught his attention.

Jaspers' eyes quickly flickered to mine and held. The panic and anger and he felt was written all in eyes.

Adrian didn't like that. His face become a mask of resentment, "NO!"

He came back to face Jasper, "STOP LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT!" he bellowed, causing the glass on my vanity to explode behind me. My own eyes widened in shock at such a display.

Yet Jasper's eyes didn't leave my own. He was trying to tell me something.

Desperately willing his thoughts to reach my own.

"Look only at ME," Adrian hissed and grabbed Jasper's face in his hands.

Jasper's eyes flared one last time and then he tore his gaze from mine.

"Get out," my childhood friend commanded.

Jasper stiffly did an about face and turned to leave.

I gaped.

What the hell? He would just listen to him? Why? Did Adrian have some sort of power over him?

Then a slow smile spread on Adrian's face and he held up a hand, "Wait," he said.

Jasper waited.

A sense of horror filled my heart. Oh no…I remembered that smile.

It was the smile he got when he was planning to do something bad.

Adrian's red eyes glittered maliciously. He issued his last command.

"_Fly," _he hissed.

And then there was the sound of glass breaking in the air as Jasper flung himself through the hospital window down twelve stories.

"STOP!" I shrieked hoarsely.

I threw my body forward out of the room and stumbled down the stairs after him. I was too frantic to be surprised that Maria had let me go. I didn't care about her. Who I did care about was the man who had just flung himself out of a 14-story building.

It seemed to take me forever to reach the bottom. With each flight I flew past, I kept hoping to god that he was okay. I kept wondering why it was taking me so long to get to him no matter how fast I was running. Why time never seemed to go fast enough when you were rushing to the one you loved. Why it couldn't go any faster.

I staggered out into the night air looking frantically from left to right.

It made no sense at all that I was screaming after him as if he'd hurt himself falling out of that window. Weren't vampire's indestructible? So why was I screaming after him like a heartbroken lover? There probably was no just answer to that question. No logic.

There never was any logic when it came to fearing for the safety of someone you loved.

I jus' plain ol' cared for him.

And then towards the end of the hospital property, I finally saw some one stirring near the end of the parking lot. Some sort of movement that spurred me into motion immediately. A tall and lean, masculine figure stood with its face tilted towards the sky.

"Jasper?" I whispered.

He turned expectantly.

I screamed his name and ran at him full force.

In a flash he'd caught me by my shoulders and for the second time that night, I was lifted up off the ground by my shoulders so that my arms seemed connected to my waist.

Though this time I didn't really mind.

I remained silent as he turned me around, looking me up and down. Inspecting me, I suppose. It was both a touching idea that he worried enough to look, but like any other idea that I might be so weak it made my annoyed.

"What? Wait, wait!" I squawked and batted at his hands furiously. "What're you looking for? I've _still_ got all my body parts, yknow!"

Calmly he stopped my hand from connecting with his body and went about his inspection. When he was completely satisfied he lifted me up higher so that my face was close to his. Here I was, a girl about 4"3, dangling at his 6 feet off the ground.

"Who was that?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"Who?" I squeaked back looking around hurriedly. Were they still nearby watching? Were we in danger? Maybe they were doubling back for another attack.

"They aren't here anymore so settle down," Jasper snapped. "Now pay attention. Look at me. Who was the boy?"

"That was my friend, Adrian! Jas--" he cut me off abruptly.

Jasper shook his head and dismissed my steadfast assertion, "It sounded to me like he thought he was more than that."

"He _thought_ he was. It's gotta go both ways, darlin'. He isn't. I don't think of him that way, even if he does like me like that."

"What is this Adrian guy to _you_ then?" he demanded.

"Key word,_ Jazz..._"

The pet name made him wince.

"—fuh-reend," I enunciated the word and rolled it out to four syllables. "_Which,_ by the way, is more than I can say about you and that MARIA girl."

"Don't change the subject," he retorted and brought my face closer to his, in a supposedly menacing manner.

Menacing for whom, however. It made the blood in my veins suddenly sizzle with excitement.

Of course he promptly ignored the spike in the atmosphere.

"Because that was _not,_ what HE said," he went on. "The word that I personally recall the most vividly, was '_wife'," _he spat. "What the hell does THAT mean?"

I curled my toes a bit anxiously. This brought his attention down to my feet. Then back up at me with a frown.

The taste guilt was fresh on the tip of my tongue like a little red flag. I cringed inwardly, knowing he would pick up on it like a bloodhound.

"Your guilt tells me you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about and it FRUSTRATES you? How do you think it makes _me_ feel?"

I sighed heavily, "_Technically_, we're married," I explained. Upon seeing the look of pain and outrage on his face I rushed to explain.

"When we were younger, as kids, we pretended to get married. Like playing house. But now that you mention it, it was more like we were more establishing a _bond_, I guess. I don't like-him love-him, if that's what you're askin', sheesh!"

Then my expression hardened when I remembered _his_ end of the situation, "Which is more than I can say about you, Mister."

"What are you talking about?" he scowled at me and had the nerve to look confused. Like he didn't know what was coming.

Ha, so the tables turn.

"Mariiiiia," I drawled out. "What's she to _you_, hm?"

He turned his face away, effectively washing the right side of his face in darkness. Probably the more guilty side of his face, "There are no good feelings between me and Maria anymore. You don't have to worry about that."

My annoyance and suspicion immediately melted into nothing when I heard the tone of his voice. It was more than just bitterness. It was sadness as well.

"Anymore? You seemed to know her well enough." I pointed out gently. "What were you _before_ then?"

A dark look that was filled with remorse and resentment came over his face, "She was the woman I loved."

But that was before she bit me and killed a few of the soldiers in my troops that I led during what you now call the Civil War."

Guilt and sympathy burned in my throat and I was opening my mouth to express my condolences when he forged onward past that, probably not willing to open up that can of beans with me.

"She isn't someone you should trust about _anything_," he commanded me burning a hole into the back of my head to make me get it, "Maria is very persuasive, Alice. She has ways of persuading a person regardless of sex that are similar to a…."

"Hussy?" I supplied helpfully.

"—seductress," he grimaced.

I shrugged. Same difference right? My word was better anyway.

"Your so-called _friend_ is utterly enthralled by her whether he realizes it or not. He. Cannot. Be. Trusted. I want you to stay away from him Alice," he said firmly and unrelenting.

I opened my mouth to make a witty comeback.

But he expected that from me and shook me in the air once, "No, listen to me! The boy isn't the same person you knew as a child. No person who becomes what we are stays the same. They change, become someone completely different. He holds the same memories you have but he is only what's _left_ of the boy you once knew."

"Ashes," I said faintly.

He nodded solemnly, "And he isn't the same carefree person he was. The boy is a damn mass of negative energy. Being in the company of…._her_, only serves to increase his confidence. That just fuels his power. He has the power to force his will on people with the negative energy they have in them. To make people to what he wants. The kid is surprisingly strong for his age," he added with a frown.

I finally understood what I had seen in the hospital. The way that Jasper had done everything he'd been told. Jasper was this big ball of negativity. He was the prince of darkness himself.

"Wait…" 

"_Look only at me…"_

Of course he had been led along like a puppet on a string and done everything Adrian had told him to. I remembered how everything seemed to go Adrian's way.

How Carlisle's interruption of our first lengthy conversation together had seemed to just disappeared without even a trace of suspicion from the doctor. How I had come so close to kissing him. How Jasper had thrown himself out a window per Adrian's orders.

How I could easily leave the hospital and make myself disappear from the list of patients and simply leave as one of them. But only because he wanted me to.

The panic I felt after making this realization must have shown on my face.

Jasper stared down at me stonily.

"What do _you_ want Alice?" it was a vague question but I knew what he was asking me.

Did I want to leave with Adrian? Would I have to be forced or would I go gladly?

"You," I blurted out and blushed.

I wanted nothing but him and would leave him for no one else.

A dark look came across his face. "That's something you can never have, you know that right?" he said softly now.

I tilted my head back and stared him down defiantly as a best a girl could while being held dangling 6 feet off the ground by her shoulders. He only stared back at me passively.

"I don't care. I don't want to be with Adrian. I only want to be with you. I'm not in love with Adrian," I declared boldly. "I'm in love with _you._"

"That's pointless. It will never happen," he said angrily now.

I lifted up my chin stubbornly and my eyes flashed. It _would_ happen. I know it would. Not yet but…

"I'll take what I can get," I finished.

And before I could back down and lose my nerve I reached my head forward and swiftly but softly pressed my lips against his own. It lasted for a total of two seconds before with a soft groan he pulled my body away from his and broke our kiss.

He glared accusingly at me.

I swung my feet giddily from where they hung in mid-air and tucked my chin, blinking up at him innocently.

He was unsure of how to respond for a bit and only held me at the tops of my shoulders safely at a distance, the bold little human who had dared to kiss the big bad vampire.

"You shouldn't have done that," he growled.

I kissed him! I kissed Jasper!

In high spirits, I kicked my feet excitedly doing a little irish jig on air and chirped, "But you didn't hate it!"

At the even darker look on his face I added, "You loved it! It's okay," I said mock sympathetically. "You know I did too! You can have su' more if ya like!" then I stretched forward to kiss him again.

He was ready for me this time though and quickly thrust me out at an arms length. I kicked my feet furiously and strained forward feeling like a child's over amorous teddy bear.

"Come on, Jazz…" I wheedled him with my lip jutting out, "Just…one…more"

I craned in closer.

He held me out further looking away.

"…lil' kiss!"

Finally I gave up and went slack in his arms with my head down. My hair effectively covered my face like a velvet curtain.

"Y'know, if we can do this all the time, if I can just be with you forever or at least until I die knowing that you care just a _little _about me, then I don't wanna leave you ever," I whispered to him with a smile playing on my lips.

I don't why it happened, maybe it was just the thought of being taken away from him, but I felt the tears slip from my eyes to land on the ground with a soft plop. I was crying.

"It's not fair. He can't do that. Adrian couldn't take you away from me," I sniffed. "I don't want to leave."

He only watched me.

"And if it isn't Adrian that we have to worry about?" he asked softly. "We need to consider all possibilities instead of directly assuming that Adrian will be the sole area of concern. There is still Maria."

I blinked. Were we talking vampires in military strategy now?

Of course he was right.

"Then…Maria is a problem too," I agreed with a grim smile and finally looked up at him.

He nodded once, "We have to stop Maria," he said, his voice laden with a full and solid promise of death and something that I just barely recognized as the thirst for vengeance.

A light flickered on in my head.

He was still loyal to his troops. He still hoped to avenge the death that Maria had so swiftly brought to them.

The noble death that she had so unfairly taken away from them. One that should have been taken in the line of duty instead of having been stolen against their will by a creature ravenous for the very essence of life.

A soldier's true pride and joy in war second only to his beloved country is always the life he is willing to sacrifice for it.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Major Whitlock," I said morosely.

He nodded to acknowledge my sympathies.

"Thank you," he replied quietly with a now softer more properly grief-stricken face. "I appreciate that you understand my feelings toward Maria. But it won't happen again. She won't take away anyone else who means something to me," he promised.

She'll have to kill me before taking you."

I frowned, "You make it seem like it would be so easy and I wouldn't put up a fight when it comes to that. I wouldn't let her. Take me away with Adrian, I mean. Just….don't let them, okay? Not without you."

He regarded my face, silent and expressionless.

I didn't know what to think to convince him.

"Please?" I pleaded contorted with desperation. "Please don't let them make me leave?"

And then his face rushed down towards mine hungrily and he was kissing me.

"I said I wouldn't, didn't I?" he whispered against my lips, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"I won't. You're MINE, and I'm not letting them take you away."

A big smile spread across my face. I knew he cared. I knew he didn't always show it. But it was there.

That was fine with me.

I had no intention of ever letting go.

(Raises hands up in a classic gymnastic finish pose) Chapter finally FINISHED! My god! (falls over) I can't believe this thing is almost done! (all swirly-eyed in anime style) and I gotta say I like how it came out. Ha! Ha! He kissed her! He finally kissed her! lolz

As you can all see, Maria just loves to be in control. She takes pleasure from manipulating people and making them think what she wants them to think. When Adrian first became a vampire he was the perfect target. He had just lost his parents, had no idea what he was or what to believe. How he was supposed to live life. It was all very hard for him. Alice was gone too so he was even more emotionally distraught and vulnerable. She was one of the few things in his life he couldn't live without and just losing her and coming back to find she'd moved somewhere else had ended the life that he used to have (to see what kind of life that was check out my blog. There's a whole story on their relationship in there). That was when he knew his old life and everything he used to know wasnt the same anymore. How does someone deal with shit like that? You rebuild it and start over. Maria was the prime person who helped him with that and molded his way of thinking.

Basically the kind of person he is now as a vampire is only what's left of the boy Alice used to be friends with: ashes. It SEEMS like it's all still there but it's not really. He's the sad leftover of the past that is long gone forever. Which if you think about it is pretty sad. He's all charred leftovers. A big, sad pile of negative energy. A lot of the things in here are ashes. Jasper's feelings for Maria. How he once loved her and when she went behind his back and killed all his soldiers, that love for her died forever. All that's left is his hatred and grief. It's just more and more ashes and if you look closely enough you'll see a remnant of what used to be. Leaving all these emotions behind.

Well I gotta go for now. I figure ill post this chapter and let you read the rest of the stuff I posted on the blog. That loooong story about Adrian and alice when they were younger. Back in the good old days.

Til then! ( I swear im working on it lol!) Please review and lemme know your opinion. Give me your encouragement to keep going please! Anything is welcome at all!


	13. Pieces

* * *

**Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 13: Pieces

The next few days that I spent in the hospital were days that I felt as if I were on the edge of a knife. Always in constant worry that I would fall asleep again and wake up to find Adrian staring down at my as he'd been wont to do that last few times that he'd shown up out of nowhere.

Only this time I was afraid that instead of asking me to come away with him he would_ tell_ me and I would have no choice but to do it.

And after the wet one that Jasper laid on me I felt more concerned than usual.

Here I was, the princess always looking out of her tower hopefully wishing day and night for a way out. Now I was looking anxiously over my shoulder afraid that someone would come to take me out of my castle for good.

If the Cullens, or more specifically Edward, suspected that I was anxious, they were careful not to let on. I wasn't about to let it show, either. It wasn't very difficult though, because Dr. Carlisle was suddenly called away to another city. A much bigger city in Mississippi than that of my hometown Biloxi. A city where I would never be able to see them.

Edward was particularly reluctant and cryptic when he came to my room one morning to say goodbye.

"Alice," he sighed, "It's been a pleasure knowing you."

I frowned and amidst a thick layer of panic thought, _Where is he going?_

He grimaced, "Jackson. Carlisle's been called off to help at the hospital. And then after that we're going to go to Columbus."

"JACKSON?!" I keened. "As in JACKSON, MISSSISSIPPI?!"

He shrugged, "If I had it my way I would stay here in Biloxi, let me tell you. But he's family, right?"

I nodded. It made perfect sense. I would not let my mother leave the state with out me either. It was too bad he was leaving. I would really miss having Edward Cullen around. Even if most of that time it was spent teasing me.

He broke through the silence and reminded me that my thoughts weren't so private around him, "I'll miss you too. I can hear you, remember?"

A scowl twisted my face.

Well...I thought on the other hand, my sour expression softening.

It was true. But another side of my mind whispered that it would not be forever. Certainly not. And in time somehow, I knew that we would meet each other one day.

"And I'll miss you, Alice. You've become something like a sister to me. I hope we'll see each other again...soon."

I simply nodded sadly and plucked at his sleeve from where he sat at the foot of my bed. Within moments it welled up in my throat. Sadness trailed down my cheeks.

"Alice," Edward sighed and reached out and whisked away a tear with a slender white finger. "Alice don't..." I didn't reply.

Edward smiled softly and chuckled, only making the tears come faster.

I groaned and blushed. Why couldn't I stop crying? We would see each other again right? I had no idea then.

But the truth, now that I think of it now, was this:

I think the laughs and joking he was having at my expense were probably his last. I was unconsciously grieving for that loss.

Because I would never again see this open and gentle teasing side of Edward ever again. Not for more many more years. No...I'll let Edward tell you himself what had happened to make the light fade from his eyes. But the fact of the matter was that something precious inside Edward died and he was never the same as before.

Not until he met you. You helped him live again. You know that, right Bella?

"Be careful, okay Edward? Take care of yourself," I blubbered as he took my face in his hands and wiped away my tears tenderly as they came out.

He laughed and arched and eyebrow, "I should be saying that to _you._"

It might have been true, I conceded. Humans were much more frail than vampires. Edward had told me that vampires had bodies like granite which were virtually indestructible.

But what about their inner workings. As far as I was concerned they _acted _human enough to blend in with other people. And make mistakes like other people, I thought and remembered the time Edward had accidentally answered my thoughts instead of my words. I loved Jasper and he _had_ to have cared fo r me. Adrian certainly did...that meant that they did feel and have emotions.

Vampire bodies might have been unbreakable but vampire hearts weren't, I was willing to bet.

So I told him the only thing I could tell him. It was vague, but it would apply to him in all ways.

"Stay safe.."

"Safe, hm?" he smiled slowly and nudged me so that he knocked me over, despite how gentle he'd been. "I can do that. But only if you do too, Alice." Then he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead.

"Goodbye Mary Alice Brandon."

And that was the last time I saw any of the Cullens for some time.

Jasper was another story. After their confrontation, Jasper had taken to staying by my side more than usual. And I am more than happy to say that he was pushing me away from him less and less frequently after the last kiss we shared.

We were currently on the sidewalk in front of the hospital. Where there was sure to be a slow but safe stream of witnesses. I was walking alongside him briskly with my arm curled around his. He was maintaining a steady stride and trying to create some sort of plan to end or at least minimize all contact with Adrian.

"I don't mind what we do," I piped up. "So long as I can stay near you."

"I realize that, Alice. I'm only..._reluctant _to take you away from your mother and all you've become accustomed to."

This plan included taking me out of the hospital and transferring me to one that was closer to the Cullens.

In other words, somewhere that was anywhere away from Adrian himself.

I took his large, cold, hands and stared into his now deeply ruby-colored eyes. He had shown up like this one morning and it had only taken one look for me to see his eyes and let out a shrill eep. It was this eerie color that all of Adrian's clan had. The color, Jasper told me, was the result of a vampire's human diet.

Human blood.

I tried very hard not to think about who he might have killed or drunk from to fully satisfy his hunger. It wasn't that I tended to forget what Jasper was. How could I? What he was defined his entire existence.

The carefully withdrawn manner he lived with. The ethereal grace with which he held himself. The way he moved was so unearthly…so impossible. The subtle power that seemed to radiate beneath his skin. The sadness that saturated his whole being.

The way he tended to hold himself away from me carefully was probably the biggest ever-present hint of what he was. He had some very strict rules about his personal space. Rules that existed solely because he did.

The vampire.

"I already told you…if I can be with you, that's okay."

A little smile curved on my lips when his face softened. For just a brief second I saw that he cared. And that my being with him made him happy.

It was easy enough to say to him and I meant every word.

But inside, I was frustrated that Adrian might have finally ruined any chances for her to be with Jasper once and for all.

Adrian was like a child to me. A child that I had once known but had suddenly become something twisted and sad. It felt as if he were in a cage, trapped by his own destiny, glaring out at me.

Challenging me.

He was the only thing that stood between Jasper and I.

The obstacle that I was fighting to cross.

He would never give me any hint when or how he would strike if I were to reach out and touch him. But there was a solid promise in his eyes that he would.

A heaviness in my heart that he most definitely could.

What I wanted more than anything was to get past those bars. To get to Adrian and make him understand somehow where I stood.

I really wanted to say that I was by Jasper's side, fully and completely.

Of course wanting and knowing were two different things and right then I knew that I was not completely at Jasper's side. I stood between the two men, trapped.

So what else could I do?

Jasper was right. We had to run away.

With a look of desperation I turned my face up to his, "Yes. Let's do it. Please take me with you."

I watched him hesitate and wanted so bad for him to take me away. To help us end it together.

It was funny…after so many years of needing and hoping I should have known wanting something was never enough.

Especially when the one person you were fighting against was yourself.

Yet he nodded resolutely and with a careful expression told me, "We'll leave tomorrow before daylight then. Make sure you're ready to leave before then. I'll come by to meet you." He looked carefully around the room and then stopped when he met my eyes.

My face hardened and I made sure to hold his gaze. To tell him I was sure.

He turned on his heel and silently left.

With a heavy sigh I walked over to my suitcase and got ready to leave my past behind me.

I was sitting on the edge of my bed staring at my feet propped up on a suitcase when he walked into my room later on that night.

Jasper stopped at the door of my room, his face twisted with disapproval when he saw my luggage spread around the room. "You are NOT taking all that with you," he muttered darkly.

I scowled back at him and clutched a worn brown handbag to my chest protectively, "Says who!" I demanded tipping my chin up defiantly.

I had a lot of important things in those suitcases. I didn't know what to let go. Why not try to take it all if I could get away with it, right?

"Says me," he said dryly.

"Why not?! Why can't we take it with us if we're going to be taking a train and you can carry them anyway?"

Jasper shot me a dubious look, "4 suitcases the size of a dog will not make it out of this room tonight Mary Alice Brandon and we are _not_ riding a train," he leaned don and picked up the suitcase that I was resting my leg on. I let it fall to the floor with a puzzled, but suspicious look.

"If we ain't gonna take a train how we gonna get there y'think? You're not planning on driving on a car off by the moon again are ya?" I squeaked my voice cracking with sudden fear.

Jasper arched an eyebrow as he lifted the suitcase into his arm as easy as if he were picking up a small child, "We will fly, but not in a car."

I knew better by then to even look behind his back to see where he was hiding some wings if he had any. So I turned to my room one last time as he made his way to the door. To take one last look at the world that I had once been trapped in. The place that I had been dreaming of a better life where I was just the same as everyone else.

**"Landmarks of my past shatter into paintings of life…"**

The window where I had sat for years staring out at a world that I would never be strong enough to stay in. To the brightly colored beads on my table and draped up against the headboard that I had counted on to life up my life in a hospital devoid of color.

And then at the mirror that Edward had brought just for me. I smiled softly and ran my fingers over the intricate framework.

Everything in side that mirror was a reflection of my past, I thought sadly.

Why…? Why was every aspect of the life I had lived slowly coming to pieces right before my very eyes?

Then out of the corner of the frame, the man who I suddenly knew would be my future stepped into the frame and laid a hand on my shoulder.

He pulled me backwards into his arms and curled a muscular arm snugly around my shoulders. His eyes were surprising gentle when whispered into my ear softly, "I'll take care of you, I promise. I won't let anything ever happen to you."

I stared at the image of Jasper and I in the mirror as we stood together there. He with his arm wrapped around me gently.

It was something I wanted.

It was something I would fight for.

Maybe even die for.

I thought about this even as I flew with him through the night that same morning. The seconds seemed timeless as he carried me on his back as easily and as lightly as if he were riding on the wind.

Don't get me wrong, I had fought to walk the moment I had been told he was our (okay _my)_ form of transportation. There was no WAY he would carry me over a thousand miles from Biloxi to Jackson! I would carry my own weight, thank you very much.

Naturally he might have expected this.

I had only strutted away a mere six steps before I was suddenly flying up onto his back like a lamb and fastened to his back. No amount of kicking and screaming would help I knew, so I only smirked and hung tight. He would see how far he could go for how long with me riding on his back. Let him give up 'imself, I said.

He never stopped holding me. He never stopped running unless I needed to use the bathroom or he needed to hunt. Although I certainly needed my sleep he didn't. I would fall asleep with my face buried into his neck softly under the soft waves of his hair as he ran and woke up with him still running.

I had no idea how long we had been riding but the moments seemed to mean nothing to me and he could have been carrying me for years and I would have only been content to let him carry me. My cheek was pressed against his shoulder and my arms, wrapped around his neck tightly as he carried me.

We were covering ground through the trees faster than I would have ever imagined possible. This was beauty.

The speed…

The speed made my heart sing and the breath catch in my throat. My face was bright with triumph and pride that I felt bursting in my chest. For so long I had been slowed down and weak. Maybe not weak in spirit but certainly physically. To finally be moving faster than everyone that had ever looked down on the poor girl was really a wonderful feeling. The feeling of the wind blowing through my hair, whipping past me so quickly that the breath caught in my throat.

This was wonderful.

This was magnificence.

It was the most wonderful most liberating experience that I had ever felt in my entire life! The happiness I felt at that moment was amplified three times.

I would never tire of it, I promised. Even when I became a vampire I would continue to cherish this brief moment of peace with Jasper forever. I would carry it with me even when I was able to run like this myself.

Which then reminded me that if fate would have it, I might not be with Jasper if Adrian would do anything about it, and looked down at the man who was carrying me. "Jazz, where are we? Are we going to stop soon?"

"No…can't stop now Alice," he grit out, "We can't stop. We're only in Waynesboro and I have to get you there. I NEED to get you to the Cullens as soon as possible!"

My eyes widened in surprise.

Good land LORD we were in Waynesboro already?! That meant that we had passed through the few random cities that Jasper had mapped out while trying to come up with a plan before our trip had begun.

We had (I had, actually. I was only listening to his plan as he tried strategize whether it would be better to go east or westward) agreed that we would start at Biloxi and make our way up to Hattiesburg, then to McComb. From McComb we would go on over up north to Brookhaven to Collins and finally where we were now in Waynesboro. All we had to do was go through Meridian and it would be onward west to Jackson, our main destination.

Apparently we were almost there after goin' all over the gosh-darned state. He had wanted our route to be irregular instead of jus taking the shorter route. I had told him that the sooner we got there the better, right? What if we ran into trouble along the way? But he said, no. It was always best to do a thorough job of it and go long ways best. I wouldna been a bit surprised if it had already been a whole month.

But here we were, almost there. One more city to cross through after Waynesboro and it was home free where we would at least have the Cullens on our side.

I missed Dr. Carlisle and Edward.

I was thinking about how vampires were never alone and surely somewhere out there Jasper had some clan or family to care for him too when suddenly a sliver of pain seared through my mind making me cry out in pain and grip the back of his neck.

**"The hug of hatred warps all of me. Things once pure are now putrid.."**

_Colors and flashes of images were pouring into my mind in violent torrents. _

_Images of horror, of horrible gore. A promise of moments to come… _

**"Fear becomes intoxicating, the controls inside me freeze"******

_Stained ivory and screams of agony shattered the silence in my mind, wrenching shrieks of horror from Alice's throat as she watched them die one by one. _

_"Finally, I can seal the promise that I made years ago when I killed your own," a woman's voice slid along Alice's spine and she could only think in that moment that it could only be Maria speaking to Jasper _

_Tears pricked at her eyes and then her world began to shake over and over again, misery oozing down her throat as thick as death itself. _

_No… _

_"Now we can…be together Mary Alice…I knew I would have you if I wanted you and now…I can..." Adrian whispered hoarsely and Alice shook her head over and over and over again. _

"NO!!!"

"ALICE!" Jasper yelled shaking me by my shoulders. "WAKE—"

There were only moments of fear that shone in my eyes before without warning, a sound similar to thunder lashed out throwing me into the air and up against a tree.

Only endless moments as the sound of metal and grinding stone tore at my ears painfully.

I cringed as agony shot up my back making me catch my breath.

Dear LORD it hurt…

I curled up into a ball at the base near the tree's roots trying in vain to catch my breath back. The bark fell onto my crumpled form in gentle wisps as I endured the sounds of chaos in all its gory.

When I felt consciousness start to slip away from me in that moment I panicked. I couldn't let go.

**"The world is fading from view…"**

I had to stay focused!

**"One second at a time, one, two, three… twelve, thirteen."**

There was no way I was going to black out and come to after it was all over and done. I wasn't going to wonder for the rest of my life what happened that night that I lost Jasper forever.

No more blank spots…

No more questions and crying over myself..

GET UP! I told myself. I had to get UP!

I had to stay up.

The world flickered in and out of my vision and I shook my head trying desperately to brush off the throbbing in my head.

**"The screen lights on fire... my retinas are under siege.."******

A last flash echoed in my mind tearing a scream from my throat.

There was another snarl and suddenly I remembered that everything was happening now. My head quickly snapped up and I knew without even looking that Adrian and the others had finally caught up with them after so long. That whatever the outcome if he were to have his way, this was really the end of things that had ever to made me really happy.

A suddenly simultaneous movement drew my eyes and I saw with horror that the vampires were forming a ring around the lone vampire that I loved so much, backing him further and further into the grove of the trees where he wouldn't be seen.

Where he would be helpless. Yet even as he backed up he stood with his arms wide and his legs parted, ready to defend himself.

Ready to fight.

They would tear him apart…

I staggered to her feet, fighting desperately to keep my balance and rebel against the rising feeling of terror in my throat. Tears clouded my eyes as I screamed out his name.

His eyes flew to mine wide with fear, "RUN! DON'T STAY HERE YOU IDIOT! YOU'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE YOU HAVE TO…"

It was the perfect opportunity.

Within seconds they were on him. The vampires were suddenly snapping and snarling amidst themselves in a horrible writhing mass of flawless ivory.

**"The war isn't over, it hasn't even begun."**

Every movement tore a memory from my mind, making me buckle to my knees and I saw it again just as I had seen it just before they were attacked. It was being replayed out in the open here again one more time.

As if I could really watch this and take it all over again.

As if I could really stand to watch them tear each others' bodies apart like snarling animals. Enduring the sound of ripping flesh and gushes of stale blood shooting every which way as they fought against each other.

Someone with a weak heart was sad.

But anyone with a weak stomach was understandable.

While I could stand on my own to feet my stomach couldn't stand to watch this. I quickly turned to the side and emptied out my stomach letting it all come out of me in torrents so that it sloshed into the grass in a sick yellow color. I felt the bile in the back of my throat and grimaced in disgust to turn back to the scene before me, wiping at my chin with the back of my mouth.

And turned back just in time to see a particular vampire slowly straighten up, to wipe off his own mouth. He must have sensed that I was looking at him because he turned his head to the side slowly. There was a wide grin on his face that I knew meant nothing friendly towards me.

A chill rippled up my spine and I took a step backwards.

He took one forwards deliberately as if to mock me as if to say..

_Go ahead…run…I DARE you... _

It wasn't like I would get very far, was it?

I threw myself backwards, away from him, away from the struggle and plunged into the forest. Running deeper and deeper with only the sound of my heart struggling to hold on as I continued to run on.

I had no idea where I was going. I only knew that I couldn't stop running. I couldn't stop trying. I kept on urging myself over and over every time I would trip over a goddamn tree root or a rock. Every time I went sprawling out over the dirty ground, my hands stinging with pain as I became more and more scratched up than before.

Every moment that I ran farther was torment and hysteria rising higher and higher in my body just threatening to explode out of me and bubble forth.

_He'sgoingtofindme…I need to run…have to get away from here… He'sgoingtofindme He'sgoingtofindme He'sgoingtofindme He'sgoingtofindme He'sgoingtofindme He'sgoingtofindme _

_HE'S COMING FOR ME! HE'S GOING TO FIND ME!! _

I cried out in frustration as tears oozed from my eyes.

He was GOADING me on purpose! I could hear silent laughter in the woods around me as I ran and it only served to make me even more scared and paranoid.

Why didn't he just come out and catch me? Why did he have to torment me like this so that I had to continuously look over my shoulder every second just waiting for him to find me!

**"Tears ooze from under my eyelashes and free me of this prison…"__**

And then I finally came face to face with him and heard my screams echo through the forest. Though I shouldn't have been so surprised that he would find me, I knew it all along.

Elliot, I realized upon seeing his face in a brief moment of clarity before panic and hysteria set in again like blood seeping into a white carpet. That was his name…

Where had I heard that name before…? I wondered. Of course I knew he went with Maria but I couldn't help but think there was more to it than just a companion of Maria. My instinct told me there was something significant about this man in connection to Adrian.

I couldn't put my finger on it. I couldn't figure out how he fit into the puzzle.

Elliot grabbed me in a tight hold, wrapping his thick arms around my waist and neck. I felt so fragile in that moment that I wanted to spit and scream in frustration. So fragile in comparison to the iron that I felt he was surely made of.

Even Maria knew I was weak and couldn't help but throw it in my face that one time she had grabbed me too:

_"So pixie-like and delicate…So breakable..." _

But this was a man. That much was very obvious in that way he was pressing me against the entire line of his body. My skin flush with his from my back to his thighs I could feel every muscle and line of his body.

My face twisted in disgust even as he grabbed my by my hair and wrenched my neck to the side. It was utterly vampiric. So cliché…

So disgustingly predictable…

"Mmmm you smell so good," he rasped in my ear. I cringed smelling the scent of blood on his breath and squirmed in his grasp.

"Let..me…GO!"

"You smell so good…so much like the boy's parents," he went on ignoring my struggles. Instead he tightened his hold on my arm and continued to tighten it even after I went completely immobile.

I stopped struggling as I heard him. A horrible thought occurred to me too late before I heard a sickening crack.

Before I felt the pain.

I let out a howl of agony pour forth from my opened mouth as the realization that he had just broken my arm hit me like a sledgehammer. Pain washed over my body so intensely that I felt my knees buckling and my vision threatening to darken.

**"Volume rises as hissing increases contorting my face into a mask of agonies untold. My eyelids panic and close while colors flash storm my brain." **

OH GOD NO…!

I held on and fought to stay conscious. Even through a thick haze of pain my mind was still working, the gears still whirring in perfect sync as I tried to decode what the vampire had said. Who he was talking about.

'The boy,' he had said.

Who was…

…………

…Adrian?

Adrian's parents…? Could it be Adrian's parents he was talking about…?

Something wasn't right. Something was very wrong and wasn't what it seemed at all.

"Hmmm?" he murmured against my neck sliding his lips up and down my neck. It was so sick and I didn't want to risk him breaking the other arm. I hadn't realized that I'd actually asked the question out loud. "Adrian…Yes, the boy's parents were a wonderful treat.

Simply delectable...Especially the stupid woman. Her screams…such beautiful screams for such a pathetic little boy. I still hear her screams of pain even as I hear yours. So glorious…"

A remnant of Adrian's words came back to me. In a flash of realization, the puzzle pieces finally started to come into perspective.

All I needed was to put them together.

_"My ma and my pa are gone, Alice. I think they're dead… _

_See, Elliot cured me and all that when he took me away with him one night. I was with him for only a few days and when we came back my house…my parents just weren't there no more. They were gone. And you were gone too. You'd gone and left me too…"_

Instantly I felt a surge of remorse and anger towards the vampires that had even dared to call themselves 'Adrian's family', when they had taken the only true family that had ever loved him and been there for him. His true mother and father…me…he wouldn't have left if they had not taken him away from his home in the first place.

"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM THE HOUSE SO YOU COULD DISTRACT HIM AND PLANT LIES IN HIS HEAD. THEN YOU YOU KILLED HIS PARENTS! AND YOU TOOK HIM AWAY WITH YOU MAKING IT SEEM LIKE THEY'D ABANDONED HIM!" I screeched not helping but thrashing about in his arms. My whole body quaked with fury.

I loved Adrian.

There was no mistake about that. I had loved him and grown up with him as a child and he had loved me in return. Maybe he had loved me differently but it was still love all the same. I loved him as a brother.

And it was more than pissing me off inside, more than infuriating me that someone had even taken advantage of him.

They had literally taken the pieces of his life in their hands and torn it apart for the hell of it, distributing it around themselves like a meaningless play thing.

The arm of a doll here.

The head there.

Here, you can have the heart…

I felt another bone crack, this time the ribs below my heart and let out another scream that stung with more pain than I had felt when he had broken my arm.

"WHY?" I wailed, my eyes drenched with tears. "WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHY THE HELL COULDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE HIM _ALONE!" _

**"Hissing failures, tragedies, insecurities, they all try and break from the chains.."******

Elliot moaned softly and licked a little trail up the side of my neck making me cringe. So dry and warm.

So sick…

"The boy had a wonderful gift, just like I thought he would. He was the perfect little tool. The perfect little puppet for Maria. She absolutely _loves_ the boy.."

"You were USING him..?" I rasped. "Only using him?" I let my head drop onto my chest in anguish.

**"Volume rises as hissing increases contorting my face into a mask of agonies untold."**

"Of course…for what other purpose? Why on earth do you think we would stop here in _Biloxi_ for?" he spat the name in revulsion. "I HATED it there. But it wasn't like we had a choice. He was so close to pining for you so we had to show him that you would only leave him _too. _Where would we be then if we lost him?" he asked sarcastically.

"_In Hell.."_

There was a loud snap and then I was falling backwards suddenly caught off guard. I let out another bloodcurdling scream as I fell onto my arm and ribs. When Elliot's face stared up at me blankly from between my legs I whimpered and backpedaled away from the freshly severed head. The corpse fell motionless a few feet away from where I was.

Over and over again the sounds of pieces coming together are the only sound in the clearing except my own ragged breath as I waged a silent war with my own conscious.

How did I possibly make it through this? How can I still be standing with my medical condition?

Jasper's shadow fell over my own. I looked up slowly as he took my hand in his and pulled me to my feet, catching me in his arms. He winded them around my quaking shoulders whispering to me softly as he stroked me hair and put his chin on my head. I buried my face into his firm chest.

"Alice…Alice…you're okay…you're so strong…I'm so glad that your okay. I didn't know what I would do if they took you away from me forever. I couldn't make it without you…I love you too much to make it without you," he whispered into my ear.

"Strong?" I asked incredulously. I laughed bitterly, "How am I strong Jasper? I have a serious med—"

He shook his head cutting me off, "There are different kinds of strengths. You were able to hold it together."

I stood gaping at him and felt a warm feeling spread throughout my body. A feeling of realization.

A feeling of satisfaction and even pride.

Anyone could be strong physically. Any man can grow muscles and learn to fight. But the strength and will power, the determination it took to keep your head when the going got tough was a whole different ball game altogether.

I had that, he was saying.

Yes…I guess he was right I thought. So I wasn't a vampire. I wasn't too good physically, but mentally…emotionally…maybe.

And then I realized that it didn't matter anymore. He was right. Having a weak body wasn't as bad as having a weak heart. Having no will power.

Having will power…that was _true _strength. And I was so proud…I felt so good to know that I COULD do that. I could stand strong.

And one day my strength would rise above my body.

It was an amazing prospect and one that made a slow smile light my face up. I beamed up at Jasper with a new confidence. A new courage that filled my entire being.

_Thud. _

I looked up quickly just in time to see Adrian fall to his knees just outside the circle of trees. My smile was gone in a second and replaced with a look of concern and fear. With a grunt I tried to push myself away from Jasper to explain.

His ruby eyes were focused on the headless corpse lying on the ground behind me.

Of course he still thought this man had been something like a father to him…would he hate me forever?

Jasper held on to me and shook his head emphatically. Adrian's eye were full of shock, pain, horror…

Realization…

He knows, I realized. He heard everything that Elliot had said and he knows. He knows that he's been deceived.

The whole time—the whole time he'd been living a lie with a family just as true as the breath that filled his body.

Just as useless and fake and unnecessary…

"Lies…" Adrian muttered in disgust. His eyes were blank at he stared at the man. Completely void of emotion, "All…lies…I even thought that you and I…"

They had told him over and over, I realized. They had convinced him that he loved me as a man would love a woman. Turning his baby sister into a woman, just so that when he found me again he would lose me too.

Not to death (yet supposedly).

But to another man.

Finally in my mind I saw everything that had happened and felt myself putting together the final pieces of the puzzle. Everything fit so perfectly into the story. All the questions answered.

The picture that I saw made me recoil in horror.

What an ugly picture deception and greed made. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.

Look at what it had done to Adrian, an innocent. I could see that he was hurting and felt that it was hurting me too. I hated to see him like that. I took a step forward with my arms open.

His eyes instantly flickered to mine and he took a step back uncertainly.

"N-No. Stay...stay away from me. Please don't…"

My face twisted as I stood and watching him look around him skittishly. Confusedly.

"What do I do Ally? I-I don't know what to do anymore…Where can I go from here?" he whimpered sounding so lost. So broken and unsure that my heart ached for him.

How did you recover when your world that you've come to know and take comfort in turned out to one big fat lie?

An illusion made by power.

An illusion influenced by greed?

How do you put those pieces back together?

Even as Jasper rushed back to my side pulling me into him again, Adrian continued to watch me from afar. He watched as my fingers curled into Jazz's body clinging to him, my head cheek resting against his chest. And in turn I never let my eyes stray away from his. I needed to tell him with my eyes that eventually it would all be okay.

A lot of times words didn't hold enough meaning. Sometimes they didn't hold all the meaning or truth. You could always tell by a person's eyes what they were feeling.

Whether they were sincere.

Whether it really meant something.

I always knew from the way that Jasper looked at me that he loved me. He didn't have to say anything. Words or even touch wasn't necessary. Just to see the look of love in his eyes and be able to return that look, to feel the love that he felt for me in the atmosphere around us…was more than enough for me.

I continued to watch Adrian as he turned his back to me and silently walked out of my life forever.

Eventually things would fall into place again and he would find his way, I knew.

He didn't know how he felt about me anymore. He didn't know what to be certain of. But I knew that he would try. That was how he was even when we were kids way back when. Such a stubborn mule. He might have lost much of his past and his humanity but the way he was still in there somewhere. He would try his hardest to put his world back together piece by piece.

It was all you could do when everything fell apart.

Put it back together one by one.

Piece by piece.

And then, eventually he would find himself.

* * *

So that's it for this chapter. Im so sorry that it took me so long to write this, guy. Two freaking MONTHS! Yeah yeah I know I know bops self on the head I could have definitely written it faster but I ran into a big writers block and then I just stopped altogether with work and everything. So I walked away for a bit on a break and pretty much never came back. It was only recently after my boyfriend read it that I started to get back to writing. So now im finished.

This chapter was a pretty loaded chapter. At least I thought that it was. I wanted it to be scary in a sort of psychological way and I really got a lot of help from a good friend of mine named Bear.

All the bold lines with quotes in them that I've used in this chapter weren't my own. They came from Bear's story '**Flashes'** which was originally going to be the name of this chapter. It's a story about a boy's inward struggle against cancer. And im not just saying because you let me use your story but because I was able to learn from your story. To admire your style of writing and add to my own. It was pretty cool :P So thanks bear. You were totally my muse this chapter just like we used to always say to each other. :)

Well the epilogue is pretty short about three pages so it shouldn't take me too long to write. I know I say that alllll the time but heck I might as well leave it out there for you guys. It's coming very shortly. The last chapter and the end of Moonlight Melody is about maybe a week away, tops. You can totally count on that. (nodnod)


	14. Eternity Together

* * *

** Moonlight Melody**

Chapter 14: Eternity Together

After we had finally made it through the next two cities onward towards Jackson it seemed that everything gradually fell into place on their own, bit by bit.

We had been traveling for only 3 days and on the third day (now doesn't that sound kind of Biblical, and me being involved in vampires and all?) we were in Jackson and met up with Dr. Carlisle.

Only Dr. Carlisle. Edward, I was disappointed to find, was not with him.

Apparently Edward and the doctor had an argument. Edward had been brooding about it for. The issues had finally boiled over when they arrived in Jackson together. No one knew where Edward had gone or what he was doing, or when he would even come back, but Dr. Carlisle says that Edward just needed to find himself.

I was pretty sure that he would eventually.

Jasper learned to put the past behind him and let fate have its hand with Maria. He was convinced that the world would have its way with her and that justice would be served. I don't know what might have convinced him to change his mind but I'm glad that he did. Yeah, he still wanted to give that hot-dog a woman the boot. But that part had eased some when he'd come to realize you can't keep your eye on what's ahead of you and one that's behind you. It was either one or the other and he couldn't afford to lose me.

Fate did have its way with Maria, we came to find later.

It wasn't til much after I was changed that some of the bad things that Maria had done over the centuries finally caught up with her. The last that we'd ever heard, some of her victims' comrades had tracked her down and shown her the error of her ways in a method she would never forget.

I never remembered really noticing James before seeing that video. I didn't recognize him in the field.

How could I?

He had always been one of those people who were satisfied with watching from afar, away from the stage. Naturally I never paid any attention to him when I had so much more to focus on in front of me.

When I look back on it today my past self would have probably laughed if she had heard that I had gone through everything I did. But I have changed a lot since then now I know and yeah, I've seen that its possible.

And while I did reach this sort of epiphany, there are always going to be _some _things that don't really change at all...

"Move it—that last 'un a little more higher up!"

I hitched up my new skirt with white lace up my hips and carefully adjusted the red and orange autumn streamers that I was putting up in the B corridor of the hospital, with the supervision of my friend, Ixie Madison, to prod me along.

We had both decided that the hospital needed some sort of decoration to liven things up in there. Didn't I mention before how utterly boring white some hospitals were?

I had finally taken some action! Down with drab white! Up with color and life!

I want to say that every occupant of that corridor sent up cheers of gratitude when they saw this but I would be lying to you. It was only natural that some stubbornly clung to old traditions and went through the deal of making their disapproval known.

"What—what're you doing up there?! Alice Cullen you get your heiny down!"

Much to my dismay I was without earplugs. I just had to learn to deal.

I had been registered at the hospital as a niece of Dr. Carlisle so my name had been altered. Just so that I could safely and securely stay with Dr. Carlisle without being looked around for. And it was a name that fit me just right. I was now registered as Alice Cullen now.

I grinned sunnily from atop my ladder and flourished my hands to present the crotchety old doctor with our work, "Abracadabra shazam! You like it?"

He frowned, "No, Alice Cullen I _don't_ like em."

I wish he would stop using my name like that in every other sentence…

"Jeezus, gramps it's jus some decorations to liven things up!" Ixie said turning to the old man, with her hands on her hips.

The ladder beneath me wobbled as if in approval. I quickly scrambled to hold onto the wall as Ixie unconsciously held it in place. Good thing she was defending our efforts, gramps was one tough cookie all right…

I went back to admiring our work so far.

"It'd look real nice to—"

"Don't _you_ 'jeezus' me, Dixie Madison or I'll give your momma a holler bout this!"

I winced. Dr. Moony Madison (me and Ixie called him Dr. Loony behind his back jokingly) was really Ixie's grandfather. Was she gonna back down?

Apparently that only fueled her even more. She piped through grit teeth, "Alice, the red piece a bit farther to your left is twisted."

Ah! So it was.

"Don't you encourage her, Ixie!" the old man groaned and slapped a hand against the ladder I was currently stretching away from. Bad move. The ladder groaned too.

"Erm…Dr. Loo-I mean, Dr. Moony, _please _don't whack—" I started nervously.

I don't want to fall I don't want to fall I don't want to fall….

"Don't touch the ladder gramps, you want her to tip over?" Ixie snapped. "Then it'll fall, Cullen and all!"

I grimaced. Thanks Ix, turn it into a nursery rhyme. Falling would be loads of fun…

Loony growled in his throat just as I was starting to realize this wouldn't turn out right, "She shouldn't be there in the FIRST place!"

I stretched out on tiptoes to reach out, too lazy to get down and move the ladder, to afraid to get between the two (who were now bickering a full steam and clearly not paying attention to what I was doing).

Just a little…further…

_Snap!_

Uh-oh.

"CRIPES!" I squeaked and suddenly the ladder rebelled and tipped forward. Desperately I grabbed the decorations to stop me from going down with the ladder.

Like paper mache could save me now!

It was exactly as Ixie had said earlier: Decorations, ladder, Cullen, (that would be me) and all went down hard.

Of course Loony had already made a mad break for it by now. He'd let out the squeal of a frightened pig and scurried out of the way carrying my decorations on his head with him! Ixie clapped a hand to her mouth in a little scream.

Okay maybe she was trying not to laugh. I knew she was trying not to laugh.

E would be for Effort. F otherwise.

I was lucky enough to land on the cart of blankets the nurse had stationed nearby to put down the blankets on the new tenant's bed.

Not so lucky that the cart hurtled down the hall with me on it and smack dab into Nurse Beauregard's food rolling food station with a loud splat.

I noticed the IV stand just out of reach and winced. That was goin to fall on me.

It fell on my bottom after that thought. Sure, pure coincidence.

Some people have all the luck in the world…

Nurse Beauregard stuck her head out of the room a look of utter shock on her face. This became one of exasperation when she saw it was me who'd made it headlong into her cart. This wasn't the first time the nurse and I had crossed paths. Though that could have been because she was the only nurse who was giving out decent non-hospital tasting food around the hospital. I was a regular customer of hers, if you could call it that and tended to get into her cart pretty often.

"Alice CULLEN!"

I smiled sheepishly up at her, pinned to the ground. I crawled out from beneath the IV stand and the wreck of food and carefully righted the cart, finishing the last of the custard pie that had splattered onto my arm in a greeting, "Hi, Nurse."

Then I scurried away with as much dignity I could muster. I'd get Ixie later about holding down that ladder better. Some had to learn to pick fights and watch out for allies at the same time.

Speaking of fights I found _my_ fighting machine of a man was waiting for me. He was just around the corner leaning with his back up against the wall casually. His muscular arms were crossed over his broad chest as he raised an eyebrow at the food that I was still wearing from Mistress Beauregard's food cart.

He wore a pair of brown slacks and a crisp white shirt with suspenders, his blonde hair falling into his eyes deliciously. The clothes of a hospital visitor.

When I had been admitted into the hospital as a patient with a chronic heart condition (which was how I now looked at myself instead of a person with a weakness), I had expected that Jasper would want to take up his old post as a night volunteer. But he had surprised me in telling me that he might just watch me and visit me every night instead like a normal person would. So Dr. Carlisle had used his influence as a doctor of the hospital to give Jasper permission to visit whenever he wanted. Usually at night, still.

I felt my chest constrict tightly at the sight of him.

"What happened, Alice?" he asked me looking down at my ruined skirt and blouse innocently.

Not innocently enough. He was there the whole time! I realized despite the fact his face was completely void of emotion.

I gaped in outrage, "You were there the whole time you should know!" and proceeded to poke him in the chest, leaving behind a blob of brown chocolate on his chest. He looked down with a frown while I breezed past him.

He caught up with me easily, still bearing the new badge of chocolate on his chest, "I knew you could handle it," he assured me, his voice carefully devoid of any amusement I was sure he had hidden beneath the surface.

I turned to the side so as to get a better eyeful of him so quickly that my skirt fluttered up and grinned, "I'd say that I hadn't it, but I would definitely try riding that cart again!"

Jasper rolled his eyes, "Only without falling off the ladder I'm assuming," he added dislodging a piece of custard from my hair.

I felt my heart squeeze hard at his touch and coughed to hide my displeasure. Boy did this man have a hold on me to make me feel like this!

"Something like that," I laughed and skipped a head twirling this way and that with my hands splayed to my sides gracefully.

"I think the decorations looked nice," he murmured so quietly that I almost didn't catch it.

I preened with pleasure and my chest gave another little jump. I grinned despite that momentary pain.

And then he went and ruined it for me.

"When they were actually up on the wall," he added with a delicate snort.

I twirled around with a big smile on my face, "Really Jazz! Well I'm gon—" I faltered suddenly when the pain in my chest increased greatly, leaving me gasping for air.

"Alice?"

"I'm gonna—"

My eyes flew to his even as I clutched at my heart painfully. He felt my pain too.

It was getting harder for me to breathe and even taking in one breath had nearly seemed impossible.

Something was very wrong…this didn't feel like anything that I had ever felt before.

This was different.

This was significant.

Instead of the lack of breath and the pain focused in the center of my body, I felt the pain branch out through my lungs, down my belly and through my legs. It spread through out my entire body so fast it left a dull ache in my bones. I was so numb, that I lost control of my body. With a soft cry my legs buckled out beneath me. His eyes were wide with panic when he caught me.

Something was pressing down on my chest and wouldn't let up. Pressing tighter and tighter…

Numb…my body was going numb!

The world around me flashed in a myriad of colors and my mind swam, flowing away from me in a stream of pain and confusion.

Jasper held me tightly in his arms.

What was happening to me? I wondered and squeezed my arms tight against the pain.

Something….wron…

"It's…be…okay"

His voice swam in and out and it only barely just registered that we were both moving, with my face tucked into the hollow of his arm.

"…going…to…okay.."

I don't really remember what happened after that if you were to ask me. Not from personal experience. I only know it as Dr. Carlisle told me later. Jasper had carried me to my room and told one of the nurses passing by at the time to call for Dr. Carlisle saying that it was of great urgency that he was to get to here as soon as possible and that Alice was in trouble.

He had known that something had gone terrible wrong. I didn't know what was wrong with me, even after years of going through things like this. He had felt my confusion and it scared him even more.

Whatever the reason, Dr. Carlisle was there when I woke up. He was just adjusting the IV stand beside my bed at the moment when I opened my eyes for the first time in so many hours. Jasper nodded to me beside my bed where he sat.

"It's good to see you again, Alice," Dr. Carlisle said with an odd smile that was small even for him.

That put me on red alert immediately and I shot upward. Something was up. It was one of those smiles that never really reached your eyes.

The grim smile.

That was the first clue that told me something was very wrong and that what had happened in the corridor to my room was serious.

I wasn't afraid to ask. I knew already. My intuition snapped to attention immediately and picked up on it. I winced.

"I'm…I'm dying already, aren't I?" I asked with a nervous laugh.

The lack of reply was answer enough.

"Why is that funny?" Jasper growled. "This is what comes down to it. This is the end already and you can laugh about it like it's nothing?"

I smiled and made a tsk-tsk motion. I wasn't worried.

"No, actually this is the beginning," I corrected him and then turned to the doctor. "This is chance for a new beginning!"

Both men had no doubt as to what I was getting at.

"I'd like for you to make me one of you, please." I declared with as much pride and sincerity as I could muster.

"No way," Jasper was adamant.

"Way," I shot back without taking my eyes off Dr. Carlisle's suddenly frozen frame.

Jasper growled threateningly and from the sound of it, bent the metal arm of the chair.

Ignore ignore ignore.

"Don't listen to her, doctor, she's mad in the head," Jasper snarled.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen looked between us.

"Why the hell not?!" I squeaked.

"Because it _is _hell!"

The doctor stepped back and started making his way out of the room. I think me might have said something about letting us work this out. Something else about it being a big decision, though it might have been made already for one of us.

We were too busy arguing the point to each other to really thank him for that.

"I want to be with you forever and stay by your side. If you're in Hell, I'm there with you."

"No!" he shook his head furiously, "Not like this!"

"I don't know if you noticed it, Jazz, but I'm DYING! As in I'll be gone soon! What if I don't see you again?" I shrilled and started to cry.

Damn it why couldn't he shut up and listen?

"You're already a PART of me, how can I lose you!" he roared. "I'll be with you again even after death! Souls always cross paths if it was meant to be!"

I blinked in surprise and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, stunned.

He had certainly gone a long way from thinking that he would never have peace. I had very clearly remembered how he used to believe that he didn't have a soul left. Or even a place to rest after he had ceased to exist anymore. Now he was going on about the afterlife together. As if there was a chance…

"But I don't _want_ to be away from you at all," I said sadly. "I don't want to take that chance."

He looked at me and after a long pause he finally got up, sat on the bed and pulled me into his arms.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this Alice. Why do you want this so badly?" he murmured, sounding utterly tortured.

I looked up at him, "Because I finally found you after so many years, that's why. And there's no way I'm going to go 'round losing you. Do you know how many times I dreamed about you, hmm?" I demanded making an attempt at humor to lighten the mood.

Jasper smiled.

"If this is what it's gonna take, I want it. You're mine." I lay my head on his chest.

"Do you know what you'd be giving up though? You couldn't sleep anymore…"

I made a face, "I have nightmares, who needs em?"

"Not being able to function like a normal human, the thirst."

I rolled my eyes, "It's a pain anyways. The way I see it, it would only make me just like you. Which _means_, more time with you!" I chirped happily. Then paused. "I want this, Jazz. Don't you want me too?"

He gave me a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of my head. I felt him smile, "Of course I do. I love you Mary Alice Brandon…of course."

I beamed and wiped my face in his shirt, "Good! So then it's settled. 'Cuz I love you too…maybe even before I met you that night," I added softly.

Dr. Carlisle stepped into the room and cleared his throat. Jasper shoved me back on the bed without the least amount of grace.

I pouted and shot him a look.

"So you're sure about this Alice?" the doctor asked me with the most serious look on his face that I had ever seen.

"I'm positive," I answered looking just as serious. "See, I have to stick around for this guy right here. I promised him. He's not getting rid of me that easily!"

Jasper smiled and I saw his eyes crinkle at the corners. I smiled at him in return when he reached out his hand to stroke my cheek with his thumb.

The gesture was so tender and soft I let out a small sigh of happiness and tipped my face into his hand.

I could only watch him, marvel at the depth of color in his now gold eyes and get lost in them. If I looked just close enough could get a look at what he felt for me more strongly than ever in his eyes. I saw my whole world reflected in there, in fact, as corny as it may sound.

I never really did break free since then, though. He still holds all of me and obviously even the love that he has for me as enough to overcome and cancel out all the negative ones that he could never get past before.

And I didn't want to.

It was amazing how much he had come to change in the past few months.

How much we take things for granted in our life. How we never take the time to think about how it is possible to overcome the obstacles in our life if we only try and believe.

Being with Jasper helped to teach me that.

All those years that I dreamed of him before even meeting him were years that it took for my future to come to me. I only had to reach out and take it.

The night that I was changed he was with me the whole time.

* * *

"Through every agonizing moment. He went through the whole transformation all over again for me. We went through it together. And we've been together since," Alice finished and then sighed happily looking up at the ceiling. It had finally stopped raining and the moon showed clearly through the glass windows. 

"And that's _my_ story."

Jasper laid his hands on Alice's shoulders from behind the couch. Alice looked up at her husband and smiled as Bella jumped in surprise. He smiled in return.

Edward nodded to Jasper in greeting without looking away from the TV screen. A new chef was now carefully frying an assortment of vegetables.

She hadn't even noticed Jasper walk into the den!

Alice leaned over to pat Bella's knee and stood up to follow Jasper out of the den.

"Wait," Bella stuttered and blushed. "What else happened after that?"

Alice stopped and then sat back down. Jasper's attention shifted to the television where Edward was now flicking through the channels. "Oh! I almost forgot for a second," she admitted sheepishly and Bella grinned. That human side of Alice that she had heard about in the story was still very much alive in the Alice Bella knew.

"Everything!" she explained.

"See after I was changed I didn't know my own strength at all. You'd be shocked at how drastically different a vampire's strength is from a human's. And of course, the thirst was there too. We had all gone hunting and it was then that Carlisle suggested that Jasper and I go away together to find ourselves. To help me to come to terms with my new life. It was very different from being human and took a lot of getting used to. Carlisle promised that when I was ready, I could come to find him.

Jasper and I went around the world and spent time together for 27 more years. We had already spent a year together in Jackson. That's half a lifetime together but each year was absolutely timeless. In 1950 about two years after Jasper and I were married for the first time, we decided to go back to the Cullens and take him up on the offer. I had never expected an entire family waiting for us. It was perfect. We became a real family, Jasper changed his name to blend in, we started posing as teenagers in school. _That_ was fun. It was a little more harder for Jasper but we're still working on it," Alice started laughing and Jasper rolled his eyes.

Much longer after Alice and Jasper went back upstairs and left the den Bella looked at her own love (who watched avidly while the man put a pan of food into the oven) and sighed.

Alice had quite a story to tell. She had gone through so much.

Why couldn't Edward understand how she felt like Jasper had understood Alice?

Would she ever get the answer from him that she wanted to hear?

As if he had read her mind, though it was impossible, Edward picked up the remote to the TV and put it on pause.

Bella gaped. He'd actually recorded it!

Then he turned to his girlfriend, his eyes solemn.

She trembled with excitement. Had he changed his mind?

"Bella," he started.

"Y-Yes?"

Could he possibly have had a change of heart after listening to Alice's story?

"NO."

Bella groaned and slumped in his arms sourly as he chuckled and went back to watching the French cuisine show.

Ah well, it looked like it was another battle for another day.

.THE END.

* * *

FINISHED!!!! Finally im finished and so relieved! I can't believe it took me a whole year to write this story. Not much compared to other people's stories, I know but its just that feeling you get when you tie up the loose end to any story you've written, right? Time seems to have gone by so slowly but hell it was all worth it. And yeah, I know it's been more than a week. I seriously didn't think it was going to be this hard to write the last chapter XD thanks Kat for reminding me to get my ass in gear lol. I've learned a valuable lesson from this. Never make time promises about the next chapter to your readers. Especially if you've been known not to be able to keep em!! So that's the end of that lol. 

I have a lot more to say in my blog (which is the Homepage link in my profile in case some people have been like 'where the hell IS that' the whole time lmao). Some definite thank yous to you devoted readers i love you, an explanation behind Edward's disappearance, a musical playlist that i listened to while writing the story (haha yeah i know im a copy cat), Adrian and Alice's story, and even some end-of-the-story connections to tie it all up for you. There's pleeenty of stuff in there so pleasepleaseplease take a look and feel free to review! i'm pretty sure that i added the anonymous comment thing because it looks like hatori reviewed. nodnod. If not don't hesitate to email me!!!

Thanks again! xoxo: mjcullen


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